


Julian's Hidden Past

by aro_ace_rose_weasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2018-10-10 14:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10439487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aro_ace_rose_weasley/pseuds/aro_ace_rose_weasley
Summary: Draco Malfoy escapes the wizarding world after the war and becomes the muggle CSI, Julian Albert. Ten years later, he's working in Central City with the Flash to take down criminals, and it seems like he's left his old life in the dust. That is, until his father is released from Azkaban and wants to use the Brahmastra to bring back Voldemort...Goes through some of the events of 3x09, then continues on.





	1. The Owl

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the Flash or Harry Potter, just the plot.

The universe hated me. That was the only reason I could think of that would explain how I ended up here.

I'm not stupid: I knew I wasn't a good person. But I'd left my old life behind, and spent years turning my life around. I escaped England soon after the war, unable to stand all of the backlash, moving to America and even going to muggle school. I knew that Draco Malfoy's reputation would precede me anywhere I went in the wizarding world, so I did the ultimate disappearing act, and Julian Albert was born.

And, although I might not be the friendliest, as Julian Albert, I tried to be a good person. Once metahumans started appearing, I rushed to offer my CSI skills to help take down the rogues, since I had plenty of experience dealing with the weird. Unfortunately, getting a job at the CCPD meant getting partnered up with Barry Allen.

Barry Allen was the Harry Potter of CCPD, which didn't actually make any sense, considering I couldn't find anything remarkable that Allen had done. And yet, Allen was Detective West's adoptive son and Captain Singh's favorite, and friendly and cheery and everything I was not, and I realized quickly that Allen and I would have much the same relationship as Potter and I.

Until, suddenly, I thought that we might not have to. Recently, something had changed with Barry Allen. When I had gotten back from the metahuman conference in New York, it was almost as if Allen was a whole new person. Not in any big way, he still had no concept of rules or any like for me, but it was almost as if the past year of hate was gone. Slowly, through the work on a few cases, such as Magenta and the holographic monster, a partnership grew. Not that either of us liked the other, but we could at least make a pretty good team.

That is, until Allen went and begged me to lie about who kidnapped and tortured me, all so the little metahuman menace he called a friend could stay free. Anyone willing to use familial or friendly ties to justify keeping a criminal free had no place in law enforcement. I should know, after spending years justifying my father's actions, simply because it was my father. However, because of my experience, I did compromise: Allen had the resign, but I would stay quiet about Doctor Snow. I just hoped Barry was right and she was back under control.

So that was why I was alone in my lab, which was much more spacious without all of Allen's clutter, the day I heard a sound I hadn't heard in years. The sound of a bird's beak tapping against the window.

Impossible.

I whipped around to face the window, and sure enough, a large barn owl sat right outside the window, waiting impatiently to be let in.

Nobody knew where I was, not even my mother. Warily, I ran over to shut the lab doors, and then opened the window to let the owl inside. I quickly closed the window again once the owl was inside, knowing the owl was the only way to send a reply, since I hadn't had any need for an owl before now. I slowly opened the nondescript letter that had been dropped from the Owl's talons.

~~~~~

Dear Mr. Malfoy, or Mr. Albert if you prefer,

I'm sorry for sending this, I know you had believed that no one knew where you had gone. I hope you won't be too offended by this anymore, but when you first disappeared, I feared that you may be plotting to rally the Death Eaters again, so I made sure to track you down so I could keep tabs on you. Needless to say, I realized that you were doing nothing of the sort, so I was just going to let you be.

Unfortunately, a situation has come up that I felt you had a right to be aware of. Your father is being released from Azkaban. I worked my hardest to get people to see reason, but even as Minister of Magic, I could only do so much, and your family name still holds a lot of power.

I'm sorry to bring such discomforting news, but I promise you that I will keep your secret, even from your father, and that I never would've found you if not for muggle computers, which I very highly doubt your father could ever use. You will most likely be totally safe from him where you are.

Finally, I wanted to say I'm happy to see the life you've made for yourself, and the good you are doing. Never in a million years would I have guessed that Draco Malfoy could survive as a muggle, but I guess you are one for surprises.

Best wishes,

Hermione Granger

~~~~~

I sat back in my chair. Yep, the universe hated me. Of course my father was being released from Azkaban. It wasn't like the testimonies I made against him were supposed to keep me out of prison and him in there for life.

And of course Hermione Granger knew where I was. What didn't she know, honestly. I should've expected at least one of the golden trio to come looking for me, considering I couldn't at a meal without making them suspicious.

I sighed. It was nice of Granger to let me know about my father, at least, and she seemed to not be overly suspicious of me anymore. Quickly, I grabbed a spare piece of notebook paper and pen and scribbled down a response.

~~~~~

Dear Minister Granger,

It's Dr. Albert, actually, which you would know if you were up to date on keeping tabs on me. Thank you for informing me about my father, I'll make sure to take extra care to stay hidden. I'm assuming he knows that I testified against him to save my own ass? No matter, he shouldn't have any idea where I went, considering he would never be able to imagine his own son pretending to be such a filthy muggle, I suppose.

Also, for Merlin's sake, Granger, you're a muggleborn! Don't you have any idea how out of place an owl seems somewhere like Central City? Next time, find a phone and call me, my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. I know the whole tech vs magic fight, but I'm sure you could use your over the top brain and find a solution.

Thank you,

Julian Albert

~~~~~

I folded the letter into an envelope and sent the owl on it's way, collapsing back into my chair. I knew I had work to do, but I couldn't even focus enough to remember what it was.

My father was free. That monster was free. Yes, a lot of the things my father had done for the Dark Lord he had done out of fear, but my father truly believed in the destruction of muggles and muggleborns. I couldn't imagine that just a few years in Azkaban helped change his mind.

And he knew that I testified against him, helped to lock him up in the ultimate prison. Of course, I didn't have a lot of choice, but that wouldn't matter to my father.

Most of the students who had chosen to fight on You-Know-Whose side had been pardoned very soon after the war, judging on how they were kids and shouldn't have had to make that decision. I, however, was a special case, seeing as how I was the one to let the dark side into the castle to kill Dumbledore. Instead, to earn my freedom, I testified against everyone who deserved it, including my father. I knew he would probably want revenge. 

Eventually, Allen broke me out of my thoughts, barging into the lab like it was still his and asking me about the Brahmastra. I told him the truth, not feeling like there was any reason to lie, although I did have to avoid sneering at the Philosopher's Stone nickname. No doubt some muggle heard the name and decided it fit.

I told Allen the story I told everyone else, then urged him to drop the subject. Anything remotely magic-like was bad news right now, especially that stupid stone. Allen left, and I knew he had no plans of letting this drop. After all, I'd seen that same look on Potter's face all through school. 

And, as if the day hadn't been bad enough already, I heard a voice call out my name and then everything went dark.


	2. Alchemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Harry Potter or The Flash. The characters are not mine, only the story is.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a small metal box, my head aching. Standing on the other side of the glass that made up my cage was a figure.

"Where am I? What's going on?" I asked, jumping up and looking around.

"Let's just say you're going to be our guest for a while." the man replied coldly, his arms crossed. I suddenly recognized him as the Flash.

"You. I always assumed you had your own private facilities for holding your enemies. You care to explain what I'm doing in it?" I questioned, absolutely clueless as to how I got here.

"I know you're Alchemy, Julian." he accused.

"What?" Alchemy? He thought I was Alchemy?

"Turning innocent people into metahumans, worshiping this Savitar," Flash continued as if I hadn't spoken at all. Apparently he did.

"Sorry, I-I'm still not following. You think, that I'm Alchemy? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard!" I exclaimed, stepping towards him. The flash pulled out an object and held it up to me. "Is that a mask? I've never seen that before in my life!"

"I caught you! I caught you wearing this mask!" The Flash accused, and suddenly I realized what was happening.

"You're trying to set me up. You're framing me, aren't you? Flash, of all the people, you're setting me up. The hero!" I shot back. Of course I was the bad guy. Apparently I was wrong: Barry Allen was not Harry Potter, the Flash was. I hadn't done anything wrong, but apparently I just fit the bad guy role all too well.

"You're insane." the Flash shook his head and started to walk away.

"The great hero! I want my phone call! When will I get my phone call?" I called after him, watching him shut the door on me. I paced around my cell, unable to believe what was happening. At least back at Hogwarts, my family was very pro-pureblood, and there was reason behind Potter's suspicions. Now, though, I had done absolutely nothing to warrant being kidnapped and accused of being Alchemy!

After a few minutes, the door opened back up again and the Flash approached me. "Have you been losing time?" he asked. "Blacking out. Hours pass, and you wake up somewhere different, but not sure how you got there?"

"No," I lied. I would not give him any help in accusing me for something I didn't do. How could he know about that, anyway?

"No?" he repeated, not buying it.

"No! I've had enough of these baseless accusations and ridiculous theories of yours," I argued, getting angry again. How dare he accuse me of being the psychopath I've been working to stop?

"Julian, I'm trying to help you, but you need to trust me," the Flash said softly.

"Says the man in a mask," I scoffed at the man standing in the shadows, making it even harder to make out what he looks like, even with the mask.

The Flash paused for a second, then nodded. "Oh, you're right," he decided, stepping forward, into the light, and pulling off his mask.

Barry freaking Allen now stood in front of me, wearing the red and gold flash suit. How the hell could he be such a bloody Gryffindor? He genuinely was the Harry Potter of Central City!

"I should've known, I should've guessed it! The unexplained absences, passion for metas, your general thumbing your nose at authority. I'm sure you had a good laugh behind my back." I ranted, taking care to not throw out the mound of Gryffindor insults I was dying to use.

"I actually wish I could've told you before," Allen admitted, looking at the floor.

"So why tell me now?" I asked. He let me know his identity, so either he believed I really might be innocent, or there was no chance of me ever getting out of this cell again. Either way, lying wasn't going to help my case, especially if the truth might help get me out.

"Because I need you to trust me, Julian. You are Alchemy, I just don't think you're aware of it. Now, have you been blacking out?" he asked me again.

"Yes." I admitted softly. Why is it always me? For once, I just didn't want to be the bad guy. Was that really too much to ask?

"When did it start?" Allen asked kindly.

I told him the truth about the expedition I made in search of the Brahmastra, but I had to make up some bullshit story about my sister dying and that's what drove me to look for the stone. Really, I saw Harper Davis, a slytherin a year younger than me. She never supported Voldemort's cause, which left her somewhat of an outcast in the house. However, as my backup on the quidditch team, we spent a lot of time together and she was always kind. Unfortunately, she got caught in the crossfire during the Battle of Hogwarts and died.

Harper appeared to me one night, telling me that if I could find the stone, we could go back and stop the war before it started. It happened a few years after I started University, when I was so overwhelmed by the muggle world and completely alone. I was so homesick I was considering going back to being Draco anyways, and this looked like my ticket home. So I did. I listened to the voice and headed to India. When I woke up in a random hotel and heard that all of my colleagues had died, I just assumed that I had apparated out before whatever it was could get to me too. That was when I decided to move to America and make my new life, forgetting about Draco Malfoy completely.

Allen and I spoke for a minute before an alarm went off and he ran out, leaving me on my own for probably two hours. Finally, just as I was starting to consider apparating, Allen returned and let me out of my cell. He took me to a room full of people. Detective West was there, along with Iris West and his son, Wally. Dr. Snow and Cisco Ramon were also there, and someone who bared a strong resemblance to Harrison Wells, the dead man who confessed to murdering Allen's mother. I decided that was a question for another time.

They hooked me up to a machine so that they could use me to talk to Alchemy, which was terrifying, but I was willing to do just about anything if it meant I didn't have to be the bad guy for once.

Blah Blah Blah, Barry ended up throwing the stone into the speed vortex with the help of some guy who looked suspiciously like his supposedly dead father, the day was saved, and I was even invited to the West's Christmas. I wasn't planning on going, but, sitting in my apartment alone, I couldn't get my thoughts away from my father and the stone, so I decided being around people would help. I even spoke to the captain and got Allen his job back again. 

Although all of this was very new, I could tell Barry and his friends were really family, and by spending Christmas with them, I actually began to feel as if I belonged somewhere for the first time since long before the war.


	3. Lucius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own The Flash or Harry Potter, the only thing that's mine is the plot.

Two weeks passed, and I slowly became part of the Flash team. Usually, that meant staying at the lab and covering for Barry like I had always done, this time with less complaints, but I also started spending more time at Star Labs.

One day, while I was heading over there after work, I got a call from an international number. From England, to be exact.

My stomach sinking, I answered the call.

"Please don't tell me bad news," I said.

"Draco, I'm so sorry," Granger's voice responded softly.

"My name's not Draco, it's Julian. What is it, Granger?"

"Right, of course, Julian. Your father disappeared this morning, we've been looking for him, but there have been no signs yet."

"Of course not. The Ministry, as bloody useless as it has always been. He's coming for me."

"Dra-Julian, we have no way of knowing that. For all we know, he could have been kidnapped."

"Lucius Malfoy? Kidnapped?" I scoffed. "Send aurors to Central City. He'll show up here soon, I'm sure of it."

"I can, but there's something you should know first."

"Listen I'm going to go and be a muggle for as long as I can before my father gets his hands on me. Just send them. I'll let you know if I hear or see anything." I hung up the phone and walked inside STAR Labs.

I could hear everyone over in the training room, but I decided to stop by the cortex to drop off my coat first. Walking inside, however, I realized the room wasn't empty. Standing in the middle of the cortex, with long, blond hair and pretentious robes, was the one and only Lucius Malfoy.

"Draco," my father greeted as he turned towards me, "where have you been? Have you gotten the visions too?"

"Visions?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"Bellatrix has been appearing to me, but not as a ghost, and explaining that she has a way to put our family back together and return the Malfoy name to glory. I can only imagine that that's why you're here. Some ridiculous muggles threw the Brahmastra through a portal, but if we retrieve it, we can have the life we deserve," my father explained.

"Father, this isn't the way," I tried to reason. "I've already tried it, it's just a trick."

"If you are not here to help, then why are you here, Draco, in this place that reeks of muggle science? Are you trying to put me back in Azkaban like you did last time? When our family returns to power, I'll make sure you learn to understand family loyalty," he sneered.

"Except that I am no longer a Malfoy, father. The Malfoys did terrible things and deserve to die out. My name is Julian Albert, and I'm begging you to leave this place and forget about the Brahmastra, please."

Lucius' face grew even darker. "Julian Albert," he spat. "Such a filthy muggle name, fit for the filthy muggle you've become. It makes sense now, why no one could find you. They believed no son of mine would ever deal with muggles, and they were right. I do not know who you are anymore," he declared, and I took a step back, even if I should've expected it.

My father took this opportunity to whip out his wand and yell " _Accio_ Brahmastra!"

A portal in the speed force appeared, and I turned on the intercom and yelled "Flash, someone's trying to get the Brahmastra!"

"Relying on muggles now, too, Draco? You are a disgrace to wizarding kind. _Stupefy_!" he yelled, and I ducked behind the desk to avoid being hit. I fumbled with my coat, trying to get my wand out from where it was hidden.

My wand was stuck, which made sense since I couldn't remember the last time I used it, so I jumped out from behind the desk unarmed. The Brahmastra Box flew out from the portal, but I intercepted it before my father could grab it.

"Draco, I had hoped not to do this, but you leave me very few other choices. _Crucio!_ "

Blinding pain coursed through my body. I heard someone scream, and it took a few seconds to realize it was me.

The pain slowed for a second and my vision cleared enough to see Barry, in his suit, staring down at me. "Take the stone," I rasped. "Take it and run. I got him."

Luckily, I hadn't let go of the box, in fact, I held held on to it so tightly that it heard to let go. I rolled over from where I fell on the ground. "You just used an unforgivable curse on your own son." I said incredulously.

"I would treat you like family if you acted like my son. You left us behind when you became a muggle. You turned your back on your parents when we needed you most, and you turned your back on all wizards when you came here."

"The wizards didn't want anything to do with me! What all of us did in the war, it was unforgivable! So I started a life the only place I could, the only place I thought I could be free of my past. You disgust me." I spat at him in the way only muggles would, which was especially impressive since I was still on the floor.

" _Crucio!_ " was the last thing I heard before the pain returned and everything went black.  


	4. The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not JK Rowling or anyone affiliated with DC/CW. None of the characters are mine, just the plot

I slowly opened my eyes, my body aching. I was laying in the hospital cart, and everyone was huddled around the main desk, talking in hushed voices.

I sat up and groaned in pain, and everyone immediately shut up and hurried over to me.

"Julian, you really should lay down. We don't know what the man did to you, so we don't know if it will have any lasting effects." Caitlin insisted.

I scoffed as I stood up slowly. "There are no lasting effects. Where's my phone? Is the stone safe?"

"Yeah, I locked it up somewhere far away," Barry replied, looking concerned.

"You should probably bring it back here. At the moment, we're the best chance at keeping it safe." I pulled my phone out of my coat pocket and unlocked it.

"But, this guy already got in here once," Cisco argued. "Do you know who he is? The sound was down, but you two seemed to talk a lot from the video."

"Yes, and he will be able to get in anywhere. Please just bring it here," I pleaded tiredly. Barry gave me one last look and ran off.

I ignored everyone else's questions as I opened my recent calls list and dialed the last number. It only took a few rings before someone picked up.

"Hello?" the familiar voice greeted, sounding concerned.

"Granger, fat lot of good you all are. He showed up here earlier."

"He did? Where is he now?"

"Couldn't tell you, he... disappeared after he made me black out from pain."

"Disappeared as in apparated? And he cruciatus cursed you?"

"Well of course that's what I meant! Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

"Of course, Julian, I'm sorry. I just, I didn't expect he would be able to find you."

"He wasn't looking for me, he was looking for something else, I was just a bonus. I took care of it, but get your guys to find him."

"Julian, if he apparated from your location, the best option is to have us apparate to you and do a tracking spell to see where he went."

"Of course it is. Fine, but just hurry." I sighed, then hung up the phone. I turned back to everyone else, who were all staring at me. "I'm going to bring a couple people in here to track where this guy went. Trust me, the secret of who you guys are will be completely and totally lost on them, don't worry. I'm sorry, but this is the only option."

"You can't just invite anyone you want in here, I don't care how much you trust them not to let out our secret!" Detective West protested.

"No, I mean they probably don't know or care who the Flash is. And please, I know I've only been here for like two weeks, but I need to be in charge for the day. I'll explain everything later, but this is the best way to keep the Brahmastra, and our lives, safe."

There was an uneasiness throughout the group, but no one said anything else, so I grabbed my coat and headed outside, where I finally was able to pull my wand from my coat and cast a spell. Within two minutes, two figures appeared just in front of me with a large pop.

"I thought Granger stopped hating me. Why the hell did she send you too?" I groaned, placing my wand back in my coat.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley stood in front of me, staring suspiciously. "Malfoy?" Weasley asked incredulously.

"No. Julian Albert, which you will remember. There are muggles inside, but I'll try to keep them distracted. Now, let's hurry up and get this over with before my father can cause more trouble than he already has, no thanks to you."

"But, what are you doing around muggles?" Ron asked, his mouth still hanging open.

"Granger couldn't've filled you in before you came here, could she? Pretend it's not me for a moment, I already have a crew of confused muggles down there that I have to sort out. I need to figure out what to tell them."

"Why don't we all just obliviate them?" Potter suggested.

"You will not obliviate my team, Potter, do you hear me? You go, track my father down and find some way to get him to rot in Azkaban, and you leave me alone. Now come on," I ordered, walking back into star labs without glancing back.


	5. The Golden Duo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, I am neither J.K. Rowling nor anyone who works for CW, so none of the characters are mine, only the plot is.

I led the two wizards, who I knew were still staring at me, to the cortex, where everyone but Barry was still standing together, nervous. Barry really must've taken the stone far away.

"Everyone, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, two... former acquaintances. They're here to track down the man that attacked me and lock him up for good, if anyone over in their department is any good at their job." Cue pointed look at Potter.

Now Potter and Weasley were staring at all the technology in awe, so they missed my insult.

"Anyways," I sighed, "I know it's your lab, but can I please convince you to go train or something and let the three of us figure this out so they can leave and our lives can go back to normal? I promise they won't touch anything that isn't theirs, but how they track people is seriously top secret." Then I mouthed the words _I'll tell you later_ to them, winking.

All with varying degrees of suspicion, most of all Cisco and Detective West, the team slowly left the lab. I quickly checked to make sure they were gone, and when I turned around, Potter and Weasley were pulling out their wands.

"Stop!" I exclaimed, and they both froze, looking at me confused. I hurried over to the computers. "There are security cameras in here, idiots. I have to disable them. There, now we're good. Honestly, how do you two idiots survive?"

Potter looked at me strangely. "What's your angle, Malfoy?"

"Albert, get it right. And what are you talking about? Just find my damn father and get the bloody hell out of my life!"

"But, why are you here? And why do you know how to use..." Potter paused, trying to remember the right word, "computers? You would never do anything that could be thought of as muggle, Malfoy, but now you look and talk like one."

"I'm here because no one would even look at me after the war and I locked my own damn father away! And for the last time, I am Julian Albert now, not Draco Malfoy!" I exclaimed as I felt a whoosh of air, and Barry Allen, in his suit but cowl down, was standing in front of me, holding the Brahmastra box.

Barry froze, looking between the three of us. "Julian?" he asked.

"Potter, meet the you of Central City, Barry Allen," I sighed, defeated. "Barry, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley they're going to track my-- my attacker and capture him."

"Did you just give away my identity to two strangers?" Barry asked, incredulous.

"How are you so fast? You didn't apparate," Weasley commented at the same time as Barry.

"Potter and Weasley are from England and couldn't give a flying fuck about who you are, nor does anyone they talk to, even if they did tell people, which they won't. Their sort don't mingle well with normal people." I explained.

"Their sort?" Potter scoffed. "Excuse me, Ma-Albert, who doesn't work well with normal people?"

"Well, seeing as you can't hold a conversation or know about security cameras, I'd say you," I retorted. "Anyways, the most Gryffindor person to ever Gryffindor without physically being one is Barry. It's quite ridiculous, really. He's the chosen one who was granted speed by science and chooses to try to save the world with it."

"Julian!" Barry exclaimed, looking betrayed.

"Honestly, Barry, they don't care. Potter's got too big of a head for him to see that anyone could be a hero when compared to him."

"So you're here to manipulate a superhero to do what you want?" Weasley asked, still confused.

"No, I'm here to help out a superhero using my science skills because that's who I am now," I said stiffly. "Now, do your damn jobs and get your judgement and suspicions out of my life!"

"Right, I'm sorry, I can't imagine why we would ever be suspicious of you. You've always been this stand up science geek that you're pretending to be today," Potter shot back.

"Granger has been keeping tabs on me, don't worry. She's always been just as suspicious about me as you are, so if she doesn't see any problems, I think you can fuck off."

"Of course, but I can't help wondering why you didn't stop... your attacker. What really happened today, Malfoy? Because none of us have any idea," Potter continued.

I lost it. All I could see was red. "I. Am. Not. A. Malfoy. You want to know what happened? My father disowned me today! I had to stand up against him as a muggle, because my wand was stuck in my coat, and stop him from retrieving the stone that could ruin all of our lives. I had to endure two cruciatus curses, both from my bloody father, because I stood against him for what was right! It's your job to catch him, not mine! So no, I'm not bloody Draco Malfoy, I'm Julian Albert, the muggle scientist, and I refuse to take any of the ridiculous suspicions you hold for me!" I finished, then turned around to see Barry still staring at me.

Shit.

"Barry, can you please go with everyone else in the training room so these assholes can do their job and leave?" I asked softly. Wordlessly, Barry, backed out of the room.

Quietly, Potter and Weasley performed the spells to track my father.

"Got it," Potter announced. He turned toward me. "We'll keep you updated on the case," he offered.

"Don't bother, " I replied. "Just catch him and leave me alone. I call Granger if anything happens."

"You can't just call my wife, the Minister of Magic, anytime you need anything!" Weasley protested.

"I can, and I will. What are you mad that I still have contacts high up even as a muggle? I've always known that I could survive better than you, Weasley." I sneered.

"Malfoy--"

"Albert, get it through your thick skulls, both of you. Now, as enjoyable as it is to fight with you two, get out of my lab, you've done enough damage already."

Weasley was still glowering, but Potter grabbed his arm and they apparated away. 


	6. Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I could say that I owned Harry Potter and the Flash, but, regrettably, I do not.

"The idiots have left the building," I announced over the intercom after a few seconds, then rested my head on the desk. I heard footsteps slowly approach, but I didn't move.

"Please don't just stare at me all day. Just ask me your questions or, preferably, save them until later and go about your day as usual."

"How did those guys track the dude? I mean he just disappeared into thin air!" HR asked excitedly.

"Magic," I groaned, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible.

"What?" Cisco asked, stunned.

"Magic," I repeated, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "They have these sticks called wands and they wave them around and say nonsense words like abracadabra and poof, magic."

My head stayed firmly on the desk, but I imagined everyone rolling their eyes. I even heard a few scoffs. Thank Merlin.

"Fine, don't tell us anything. Just endanger us and let our secret out to people you obviously don't like and leave us in the dark!" Cisco complained angrily.

I slowly stood up. "I said I'd tell you guys, just not today. Today, I'm done. I'm going home."

Everyone around the room looked at me suspiciously, except for Barry in the back, who just looked concerned.

"Look," I sighed, "I will tell you everything. But today I was tortured, twice, and the past I've successfully been running from for the past ten years has all come back to bite me in the ass. I'm going home and going to bed and hopefully putting an end to this entire day. Really, best case scenario, I wake up tomorrow morning and find out it was all one big nightmare."

"Do you want me to come with you? Make sure you get home without any more unwelcome surprises?" Barry asked, still looking concerned. I remembered everything he had heard me yell.

"No, that's fine, thanks. I'm pretty confident I'm safe for tonight. Hopefully, Potter is competent enough to track the guy, whose name is Lucius, by the way, and capture him. I hold out no hope for Weasley."

"If you're sure..." Barry replied.

"I am. I'll come back tomorrow after work. I promise I'm not gonna run away and disappear into the wind. You guys could probably track me, anyways." I promised, then turned around and left.

Somehow, I wasn't surprised when, just as I began driving away, Barry jumped in my passenger seat.

"What happened to no more surprises, Allen?" I asked.

"I said no more unwelcome ones, I, on the other hand, am very welcoming," Barry replied cheekily. I scoffed. "Look," he continued, more seriously, "I'm worried about you. We all are. Whatever happened today, it sure as hell seems like it's been unimaginably hard for you. Just let me make sure you get home safe. Then, if you want me to go, I'll go. But if you don't want to be alone, that's cool too."

I stayed silent, which Barry seemed to interpret as consent. Granted, that was how I saw it too. After all, Barry wasn't known for giving up, and it felt good to not be alone for a while.

"So, I really don't want to drown you in questions, but I have to ask one. Everything else you want to tell me is completely up to you, but what the hell is a gryffindor? I feel like I should know if I'm the 'most Gryffindor person to ever Gryffindor without physically being one.' I need to know if I should be insulted or not" Barry asked with a little bit of teasing tone at the end.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "At my boarding school we were all split up into four 'houses' based on our values, and it basically decides who your friends are for the next seven years. Gryffindors value bravery, chivalry, and nobility. Basically, they put their lives at risk for stupid risks and completely disregard the rules and yet continue to be the golden boys and girls of the school. Remind you of anyone? I was in the rival house Slytherin, where we value ambition, cunningness, and resourcefulness. So basically, I meant it as an insult, but Potter and Weasley probably love you now. In fact, they're probably begging their boss to let them come free you from my evil clutches as we speak." I explained, laughing at the idea of the golden duo coming to Barry's rescue.

"For what it's worth, I feel pretty confident that you're not trying to manipulate me," Barry laughed. "If you were, you're ass-kissing methods need a lot of improvement."

"Excuse you, my ass-kissing methods are exceptional," I joked, pretending to be offended. "After all, I did get myself onto the team, didn't I?"

"Yeah, by getting possessed by the speed god and wreaking havoc for a full year. Seems like there are better strategies."

"But it worked."

"Oh, so now you're admitting that you are manipulating me? I should call Potter and Weasley right now and tell them to rescue me," Barry threatened with a smirk as I pulled into my driveway.

I doubled over in laughter as I put my car in park. "Please. Potter and Weasley? With a phone? That would be priceless! I'd call them right now just to hear their reaction."

"Fine, but Cisco said you called someone earlier about all of this. I could easily take your phone and call them before you even noticed," Barry reasoned, grinning.

"Ah, see, but that would be the slytherin way. As a gryffindor, you would be obligated to gloat about stealing my phone, at which point I would challenge you to a duel for my phone, and you would have to accept to save your massive gryffindor reputation. Then, I would obviously win and get my phone back, seeing as I can do magic and you can, what? Run fast?" I explained jokingly. Barry raised his eyebrows at me. "What? Are we going to pretend that you didn't hear me talk about a wand and curses and then claim that those guys could do magic? As my partner, I have to hope you were smart enough to put two and two together, no matter how sarcastic I sounded."

"I just wasn't sure you meant to say that," Barry replied carefully, looking like he wanted to make sure he didn't say the wrong thing. "I said I wasn't trying to push anything."

"And you didn't. Everything I told you besides the gryffindor thing was my own choice." I replied, then sighed. "Now, come inside. Congratulations, you've finally unlocked my tragic backstory."

I climbed out of my car and headed into my apartment building without looking behind me. After a few seconds, I heard Barry follow. We climbed the stairs until we reached the third floor, and then I led Barry to my apartment.

"Congrats, you're the first person to ever see my place," I tell Barry as I opened the door.

"Didn't you say you had a girlfriend? Wouldn't you have brought her here at some point?" Barry asked.

I felt my ears heat up a little. "I lied. I was definitely not ready to tell you that I didn't know anyone outside the precinct and your team yet. Trying to impersonate a muggle is seriously a full time job, even after 10 years."

Walking inside, I realized what a mess my apartment was. It wasn't something I usually thought about, considering no one else would see it. There were dirty dishes in the sink and on the table, and blankets thrown all over the couches. A rusty bird cage sat in the corner of the living room, by the window, empty ever since I let my owl, Noctua, go, since I couldn't really keep an owl in an apartment and not arouse suspicion. My firebolt sat in another corner, seeing as I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Those two objects, along with the potted jewelwood, a grassy plant with drop-shaped jewels of every color hanging of the tips of the grass blades, sitting on my kitchen table, were the only visible indications of my life in the wizarding world. Well, that and the incredible amount of the "*blank* for Dummies" books strewn everywhere across the apartment.

I pulled my wand out from my pocket. " _Tergeo_ " I said, and the dishes flew to the sink and cleaned themselves. " _Scourgify_ " was my next spell, which picked up all the books and placed them on my bookshelf.  

After deciding that my apartment would have to be clean enough for company, I turned to Barry, whose eyes were wide. “So,” he said slowly, “magic.”

“Magic,” I agreed.


	7. Dark Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any Harry Potter or Flash characters, but the plot is mine.

After deciding that my apartment would have to be clean enough for company, I turned to Barry, whose eyes were wide. "So," he said slowly, "magic."

"Magic," I agreed.

"I understand what Dig feels like every time he sees me, now," Barry chuckled, shaking his head. "So, what's it like, being... you know?"

"A wizard? I'm the wrong person to ask. I was raised in a wizard household, knowing what I could do ever since I was born. I can tell you what it's like to be a muggle, a non-magical person though. It's slow, and a lot more physical work. Not to mention, you have so much technology to understand. Supposedly, magic doesn't mix well with technology, so we wizards don't use it. Merlin, we still use quills and parchment at school! Fuck, now I'm starting to talk like a wizard again too. Anyways, since leaving the wizarding world, I'm starting to think that it's just an excuse for wizards to not have to make the effort to learn about technology," I explained.

"If it takes so much work, why'd you decide to pretend to be one?" Barry asked.

I sighed. "That, is quite a story. Let's sit down, shall we?" I lead Barry over to the sofa and we both took a seat. "Now," I began, "I'm not a good person. This is what happened when I was at school, and I'm not going to blame you if you see me different after I tell you this. Don't try to make excuses for me, and if you want me to leave the team, I will, I promise. Just, let me get through the story."

"Julian..."

"Nope, don't start this. First of all, my real name is Draco Malfoy. I was born into the Malfoy family, a very powerful wizarding family with magic in its bloodlines for as long as anyone could remember. This was important, because we wizards have a type of racism where some believed they were more important than other wizards, better than them, just because they came from a wizarding family and not from muggle parents. Honestly, a wizard's magic had nothing to do with whether you were the first person in your family with magic or the thousandth, but you know how prejudice is. Anyways, my family was one of those families obsessed with blood.

"About ninety years ago, a wizard, a slytherin, named... Voldemort... became obsessed with the idea that muggles should die, along with muggleborn wizards. He gathered his followers, who were called death eaters, and they set out on a reign of terror. They killed everyone who challenged them, using a killing curse that no one could defend themselves against.

"That is, until... Voldemort came to kill Harry Potter. It was prophesied that he was the only one who could kill Voldemort, so the simplest option seemed to be to kill Potter while he was a helpless baby. So, Voldemort went to the Potters' house and killed his parents, but somehow, when he tried killing Potter, the curse rebounded and Voldemort vanished, presumed dead.

"Fast forward ten years, I'm getting ready to head to Hogwarts, the wizard school in Scotland, having been raised to believe I will be king of the school, as a Malfoy. The muggleborns wouldn't know what to do when they saw how powerful I was. Then I met the famous Harry Potter, hanging out with a Weasley, who, although the Weasleys were purebloods, were friends with muggleborns. I insulted Weasley and tried befriending Potter, offering to show him the ways of the wizard world. Potter grew up like a muggle and, strangely, I didn't make a good first impression, so he declined.

"Then, of course we were put in opposite houses. I was proud, since my whole family were all slytherins, but it turned out that not everyone regarded the slytherin house with respect. Most death eaters and other dark wizards were slytherins, so we got stereotyped as the bad house. Merlin, my family were death eaters, we even had a few locked up in our prison, but I was never taught that that was a bad thing, just a thing to be hidden. Honestly, a lot of slytherins became death eaters just because they knew it was the only way to gain respect.

"At the end of fourth year, when I was fourteen, Voldemort returned. There were other attempts for him to return in the past years, but here he was finally successful.The summer before sixth year, Voldemort used our manor to hide in, as repayment for something my father had done to disappoint him. In order to reclaim our family's respect, Voldemort gave me the mission to find a way to sneak death eaters into Hogwarts and to kill Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts and only wizard Voldemort feared. I readily accepted, eager to do anything to not disappoint my father. By this time, I knew that blood status was pointless. Granger, the third part of Potter's gang, was a muggleborn, and even if I didn't like her, which I didn't, I still had to admit she had great magical ability. But I took the mission to save the Malfoy name. I even took the Dark Mark, the mark of the death eaters."

I slowly rolled up my sleeve, revealing the snake and skull tattooed on my arm, covered in scars from where I tried to curse and even cut it off. Nothing had helped. Oh, the joys of magic.

"So, I let death eaters overrun the castle and cornered Dumbledore. I couldn't actually kill him, but I held him there long enough for someone else to kill him. Voldemort stayed in our manor and I spent the next year torturing muggles and muggleborns at home and at school, since Voldemort took over Hogwarts after Dumbledore's death. My only redeeming moment was when Potter and his gang were captured and brought to my manor, but Potter's face was swollen almost beyond recognition. I was told to decide whether it was him or not, since I had seen him the most, and I lied and said I didn't know, which kept him alive just long enough to escape. Then I got even more pathetic by being sent to go kill Potter and him saving my life from a bloody spell that backfired on me.

"Anyways, Potter killed Voldemort and all was well. The judges were willing to look lightly on my crimes, since I was a kid when most of it happened, but no matter how lightly they looked, I still ended up having to go to Azkaban, the prison, and that's not a place you leave sane. So, to get pardoned, I testified against everyone I was able to, including my own father, the man you saw today.

"Even though I got pardoned, no one wanted anything to do with me, for good reason. I tried running to other continents, but every witch and wizard knew who Draco Malfoy was. While in Africa, I saw a vision of a friend that was killed in the final battle, saying that if I found this rock, I could go back and fix everything. You know how this ended. When I woke up and found out my entire team had been murdered, I decided to completely get rid of Draco Malfoy, the wizard, and become Julian Albert, the muggle.

"I didn't tell anyone, not even my mother. I thought I was officially free, until the day you came to ask me about the Brahmastra. About an hour before you showed up, I got a letter from Granger, the third part of Potter's golden trio, saying that my father was being released from Azkaban and that she'd been tracking me since I disappeared because she was suspicious. Then, I find out that I am Alchemy that same day. It felt like everything was going back full circle. And then Lucius finds me and wants to use the Brahmastra to turn things back to the way they were..." I trailed off, staring at my Dark Mark.

Barry put his hand over the tattoo. "Hey, we're not gonna let that happen. Hopefully Potter and Weasley will find him, and if not, we can prepare for a wizard attack if you help us."

"You're going to trust me with that? Really, I won't be offended if you want me off the team. I deserve it after all I've done," I protested.

"Well, you said you did those terrible things because you didn't want to disappoint your father and ruin the Malfoy name. Today, you defied your father and got disowned. The Albert name doesn't have much to uphold. I think it's safe to say that you've changed," Barry reasoned. "But honestly, I don't know what's worse: that your name is Draco Malfoy, you were a wizard nazi, or this." Barry held up a sticky note that read:

WATCH STAR WARS BEFORE CISCO CATCHES ON THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE'S SAYING

I slumped back in my chair with a groan. "I try having one serious conversation..."

"Oh, this is serious. You are not allowed to be a science nerd without having seen Star Wars, whether you grew up believing muggles were demons or not. There's no excuse." Barry informed me. "Luckily," he continued, then flashed out for ten seconds. When he returned, he was holding six dvd cases and a large pizza and grinning. "I have the collection and a pizza with me, so you can re-earn your right to be my partner again tonight."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You are completely ridiculous," I announced, then conceded. "Alright, bring it over here. I guess it's better you than Cisco."  

So, we turned on Episode IV and watched it while we ate pizza and joked around. I had never had anyone just hang out with me before, especially not during a time like tonight when I really needed it. I decided that this friendship was the one thing I was going to focus on not fucking up. Maybe this could help me stay on the right path.

The movie ended, and although it was late, we decided to start Episode V. Less than halfway through the movie, I caught Barry passed out on his side of the couch. I threw a blanket over him, but I couldn't say much, because I fell asleep less than twenty minutes later.


	8. Father of the Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I owned Harry Potter and the Flash, I wouldn't have to keep putting this at the top of my chapters.

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that I wasn't in my bed. The next thing I noticed was that I wasn't on my couch either, where I had fallen asleep. Quickly, I sat up, and looked around. I was in a dark room, where the only source of light was a small light floating in a jar on the on the only furniture in the room, a small table. There were two windows covered in black-out curtains and one door. My wrists and ankles were bound in rope, but at least my wrists were in front of me and not behind.

Taking notice of the jar of light again, I started searching my pockets. My wand was gone, but my phone was still in my back pocket! I let out a triumphant laugh. I loved wizards!

It took some awkward maneuvering, but eventually I was able to slide my phone out of my pocket and grab it. I unlocked my phone and opened up the messages. I clicked on Barry's name and typed out _"Kidnapped. Probably L"_ before I heard footsteps. I quickly hit send and slid my phone between my wrists so that the ropes hid it.

As expected, my father opened the door. "Draco, you're up," he said, as if he hadn't just kidnapped me.

"Why am I here?" I asked, my voice smaller than I was willing to admit. I wanted to yell at him, correct him for calling my Draco, but I couldn't make the words come out.

"Because, you are still my son, even if you've forgotten what it means to be a Malfoy. Together, we can retrieve the Brahmastra and put everything back how it should be. Think of how thankful the Dark Lord will be when we are the ones to return him to life. We will be royalty!"

While my father was talking, I pulled my knees up to my chest, effectively hiding the phone that I slid into my hands.

"I-I can't. The Brahmastra is dangerous," I stuttered. Blindly I typed out _"Wait befoee u do somerhinf stupis"_ and hit send. Not perfect, but I at least hoped I would be able to pull info from Lucius before Barry flashed in and screwed everything up. Now I just had to find a way to get him talking, and not let myself break.

"Is that what those muggles told you? Of course they would think that. Muggles fear power, but we can wield it in a way that only threatens our enemies. I think my first action when I get the Brahmastra will be to kill your ridiculous little muggles. I can't believe you let one sleep on your couch." Father sneered.

A chill went through my body. I didn't even think about the fact that Father would've seen Barry when he kidnapped me. "W-what did you do to Barry? Please, he didn't do anything wrong," I pleaded, desperate. Barry couldn't be dead. He survived fighting a speed god, how could my father manage to kill him? But Barry had no way to fight against magic...

"Oh, pull yourself together, Draco. I didn't kill your precious muggle. I just gave him a nasty case of paralysis in case he gets curious as to where you went." Lucius dismissed my worry with a wave of his hand. I sighed and unlocked my phone again. The next Team Flash member in my messages was Joe. "Honestly," he continued, "you can't concern yourselves with muggles. As soon as we retrieve the Brahmastra, even the strongest wizards will be begging for our forgiveness. There will be no room for pathetic muggles."

"I don't want their apologies," I argued. Pretending to avoid my father's eye, I lowered my head so I could see my phone screen. _Call xxx-xxx-xxxx, explain how you know me. Tell her to send Potter + Weasley to my place. FAST. VRY IMPORTANT._

"You're right," Lucius agreed, smirking. "They don't deserve our forgiveness. We should just squash out anyone who opposed us before they can do anything about it."

"No," I told him. "No, that's not what I meant." My voice was shaking, but I had to make myself say it. "We're the ones who should be begging for forgiveness, not them. Can't you see that we were wrong? We can't judge people on their blood, that's not their fault. Sure, it took me ten years, but I found a group of muggles who have finally began treating me like an equal, something that's never happened before. And you know what? This is my life, and I am the happiest I've ever been. I wouldn't want to go back even if I had the choice."

Lucius took two steps back, looking as if I'd slapped him. "Very well, then," he replied after a moment. "It looks like I will have to do this myself. And, when I get the Brahmastra, I will make sure you and your little muggles get the same treatment I will be giving Potter and his friends."

There was a loud pop, and Lucius was gone. Quickly, I dialed Cisco's number.

"Hello," a voice answered.

"Cisco! Lock the Brahmastra in a containment chamber now! Then, I need you to track my phone and get Wally to come take me back to STAR labs."

"Why? Just tell me where you are-"

"I don't know where I am! I was kidnapped! Now, please do what I say before it's too late!"

"Alright, Caitlin's locking up the stone. How are you in Canada?"

"Fucking hell," I groaned. "Change of plans: tell Wally to go to my apartment and tell Potter and Weasley where I am and tell them to come get me."

"How can they get there so fast?"

"Now, Cisco! They have magic powers, I have magic powers, my fucking evil dad has magic powers! And he's going to kill us all if you don't start moving!" I hung up before Cisco could respond. Luckily, about five minutes later, Potter appeared. "Thank Merlin!" I exclaimed. "Do you have my wand?"

"No, another fast guy just appeared and said we had to come get you while we were trying to heal your other fast friend," Potter replied.

"Fine, then just untie me and apparate us back to my apartment. Quickly, there's a bit of a deadline," I ordered, holding my arms out in front of me.

"How am I supposed to trust you? A muggle was found paralyzed in your apartment and, although you claim to have been kidnapped, you've been in contact with your team." Potter argued.

"That's because you wizards know shit about technology! I don't have time for this," I complained, so I lunged forward and grabbed the wand Potter was dangling by his side.

Caught off-guard, Harry fell over and let go of his wand. I rolled out of his reach and apparated back to my place.   


	9. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I owned Harry Potter or the Flash, I wouldn't be too stressed out about finals to keep my update schedule. The characters aren't mine, only the plot is.

I landed with a thud, and Weasley and Wally looked over at me.

_"Explico!"_ I said, and my ropes loosened enough for me to free myself. "Hey, there's my wand." I walked over and picked my wand up from where it sat on the living room table. "How's Barry?"

"What did you do to Harry?" Weasley asked accusingly.

"Left him in Canada. He was being ridiculous so I borrowed his wand. Really, it's my wand from back in school, so he's the thief, technically. How's Barry?" I repeated.

"He says Barry should be moving again in an hour. I don't know if he'll heal faster because of his powers, though," Wally answered warily.

"Alright, good. Here's Potter's wand back," I told Weasley, tossing him the borrowed wand. Go save your little hero and then make sure Barry's all good. Or, preferably, heal Barry then go find Potter. When Barry's good, come meet me at STAR labs. Wally, stay with Barry and stay out of the lab. I'm not having any of you hurt because of this."

With a pop, I apparated to STAR labs, appearing in front of Cisco, HR, Caitlin, Iris, and Joe. Immediately, all five of them turned to stare.

"How..." Cisco wondered.

"Magic, like I said," I answered, rolling my eyes and lifting my wand for everyone to see. They all stared in awe.

"You're joking, right? You don't want to tell us what's really happening, so you're making up some stupid story about you having magic powers because that's easier," Joe said skeptically, looking more than a little freaked out.

"I'm sorry, but what part of there's a secret civilization of witches and wizards is easy? Not to mention my evil dad is here to steal the Brahmastra and plunge the world back into a war and have us killed, and the only other wizards who are here to help are the two people who hate me most in the world!" I exclaimed. Iris opened her mouth to ask a question, but I didn't let her. "Listen, I owe you guys a huge explanation, but evil father with magic powers will be here as soon as he figures out we brought the Brahmastra back here, so you need to get out of here."

"Are you crazy?" Iris asked. "We still don't know what's happening, and we're definitely not leaving you to fight your crazy father by yourself."

"Barry's hurt right now and in my apartment," I told them quickly. "He's probably terrified right now, and you should be there for him. Don't worry, Potter and Weasley are going to come by after they make sure Barry's healing alright." The team shared worried looks. "Go," I pleaded, "I'll be fine."

It still looked like they were torn between what to do when Potter and Weasley apparated in and everyone jumped.

"See? Not alone. Go make sure Barry's recovering alright."

This finally must've made up their minds, because everyone hurried out of the lab. I turned back to Potter and Weasley. "Barry's healing well, right?" I asked.

"He can open and move his eyes. We took it as a good start, and since we thought we should get over here quick, we just told Wally to call you if anything bad happened." Potter explained, his voice guarded.

"Don't act like you care, Malfoy. We know who you really are, you don't need to play pretend." Weasley sneered.

"You knew me ten years ago, Weasley. Maybe I realized that what I had done was wrong, and that I wanted to do something better with my life. I work at the police station now, working to catch criminals, not helping them, and I'm definitely not one myself anymore," I explained angrily. "By the way," I continued, but I was talking to the air instead of the wizards in front of me, "My real name is Draco Malfoy. Please, take it easy on the jokes, I know it's ridiculous."

"What are you doing?" Potter asked suspiciously.

"I'm not stupid. There's no way Cisco isn't watching and listening to us through his laptop right now. Alright, so even if my father doesn't Apparate inside, I'm gonna be honest, the door here doesn't pose much threat to anyone who wants to get inside, even if they're not a wizard."

"Hey! You try making a better one, _Draco,_ " Cisco complained over the intercom. Both Potter and Weasley jumped and started looking around for the voice.

"Please call me Julian, Draco was an asshole wizard, which is not who I am anymore. It's Cisco talking over the intercom. He's hopefully back at my place already, right?"

"Five minutes," Cisco answered. "Not all of us can teleport, you know."

"Don't give me that," I argued, "you can vibe yourself places if you wanted."

There was a pause. "Fine. You win this one, Julian," Cisco conceded.

"Alright, if you two are done, what's wrong with Barry, Julian?" Iris's voice asked.

"When my father kidnapped me, he cast a strong paralyzing spell on Barry. It's beginning to wear off, but I don't know how long it will take to be able to move normally again."

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm beginning to hate magic," HR commented.

"That makes two of us," I agreed. "The wizarding world is pretty rough when you look at it through my point of view. Look at it through Harry's and it's all sunshine and lollipops, though."

"Right. There's nothing like hearing about how Voldemort killed my friends and family to make people excited about magic," Potter retorted.

"I hate to tell you, but family isn't all it's cracked up to be. Hence evil father trying to steal the Brahmastra," I replied.

"What does your dad want with the philosopher's stone, anyways?" Cisco asked.

"The philosopher's stone? You have the philosopher's stone and you didn't bother to tell us?" Weasley accused angrily.

"Obviously it's not the real philosopher's stone," I said, rolling my eyes. "Dumbledore destroyed it, remember, after your suicide mission to save it. No, muggles call the Brahmastra that sometimes, my guess is that a muggle overheard a wizard and stole the term. My father wants the Brahmastra to try to bring back Voldemort and win the war. I don't know if he can actually do that, but even if he can't, he still can unleash an evil speed god to terrorize everyone, which, I can say from personal experience, is not something we want."

"And how are we supposed to believe that you don't want the stone for the same reasons?" Wesley questioned.

I scratched the back of my neck, regretting what I was about to say before I even said it. "Because, I already tried the stone solution. However, I would like to say that I was trying to use the stone to stop the war from ever happening. It didn't work, and it caused a lot more trouble than it was worth. The Brahmastra needs to be kept locked away."

"Yeah, of course, we believe you," Weasley scoffed.

"We can corroborate that Julian tried using the stone and it went very very badly," Cisco added. "But he told us he was trying to bring back his dead sister. Anyways, the stone is not fun. Zero out of ten would recommend."

Weasley and Potter shared a wary look. "Guys, you don't know Julian like we do," Potter advised. "You can't always take everything he says for the truth. Don't let him convince you that he did nothing wrong. First, he has control over the stone. You find out about it and convince him to help you contain the stone. Now, his father shows up wanting the stone. That's gotta sound suspicious, doesn't it?"

"Fuck you," I growled, then pulled out my phone and dialed Granger's number, putting it on speaker.

"Julian? Is everything alright? Your friend called me earlier, are you okay?" Granger asked, sounding concerned.

"No, actually, it's not, Granger. My father is still on the loose and trying to steal a very dangerous object of power, but your imbeciles won't fucking help me because they're uselessly stuck on my being Voldemort's heir! Why the fuck did you have to send Potter and Weasley? You said you believed I wasn't a threat anymore!" I yelled angrily.

"Don't talk to my wife that way!" Weasley protested, taking a step forward angrily.

"Harry and Ron are head of death eater cases, for obvious reasons. There was no one else for the job, not to mention they are the world's best Aurors," Granger replied sternly. I scoffed. "I don't care what your opinion is of them, Julian, just trust them. Believe it or not, Harry and Ron are more than capable of handling your father."

"Well then, please explain to me why, when my father is working on a plot to bring back Voldemort and kill us all, including me and my team, your so-called heroes are working on turning my team against me, insinuating that I am in on this awful plot?" I spat.

"Right, it's not like you've ever followed your father into an evil plan before," Potter sneered.

"Or like we found a paralyzed muggle in your apartment this morning," Weasley added.

"Or like you stole my wand and abandoned me in Canada only like an hour ago," Potter spoke again.

"You did what?" Granger asked incredulously. "I'm sorry, all I can vouch for is that you've had no contact with other known death eaters before yesterday. If you're cursing muggles, I can't help you."

"Whatever, I don't know why I ever believed you could help me," I sighed, defeated. "After all, you're still part of the Golden Trio, aren't you?" I hung up the phone.   


	10. Tied Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I had any control over The Flash Or Harry Potter, this would have been the plot of season 3. I'm just borrowing the characters, only the plot is mine.

I felt lost, not knowing how I could convince the legendary Potter and Weasley of my innocence. "Tie me up or whatever the fuck will make you feel safe, just keep the damn Brahmastra safe, deal? Do that, and I won't put up any sort of fight," I sighed.

"We don't need you to surrender to us. You're out of practice, we could probably take you down with two spells. Why should we make a deal with you?" Weasley argued.

"Because I have four superheroes on my team that hopefully still believe in me on my side. And trust me, it's not good to have Team Flash on your bad side, no matter who you are," I explained, hoping that my friends weren't too suspicious of me. Unfortunately, they stayed silent, so I had no idea what any of them were thinking at the moment.

"Fine," Potter agreed quickly, before Weasley could jump in again. "We'll keep Lucius away from your precious little stone. But first, give up your wand and phone so that we can bind you."

Reluctantly, I handed over anything that might be a threat, wizard and muggle-wise, and sat down in a chair. Potter spoke a spell and ropes wound around my arms, legs, and torso tightly.

"Breathing is overrated, right?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, well, something about this is too easy. We can't risk letting you escape and start paralyzing muggles again, can we?" Weasley taunted.

"You know, Weasley, in America we have a thing called innocent until proven guilty. I was literally found tied up in Canada, kidnapped by my father. How does that not take suspicion off me? I'm also almost positive that my wand won't have any paralyzing spells recorded since the war. And yet, here we are," I mused.

"Oh, so you want to get American aurors involved?" Weasley asked. "Because I don't think any of them would have a problem with this once they heard the name Draco Malfoy. American wizards are said to be much less lenient against criminals, after all."

"I meant American muggles," I sneered. "As the muggle I've been for the past ten years, I don't care about aurors and know quite a bit about the muggle police force, considering I'm part of it."

"Don't pretend like you're some good little muggle, Malfoy," Weasley groaned. "You're caught, the game is over."

"The game is over because there is no game," I retorted. "Honestly, haven't I done anything out of character according to you? Isn't there anything that makes you think that there's a possibility that I'm telling the truth?"

"Like you said, it's been ten years. We don't know what's out of character for you. All we know is that death eaters don't really turn a new leaf, and now you claim that your father is plotting to bring back Voldemort, but you don't want that to happen, which is hard to believe, considering you've always followed your father and his plans before."

"I wish I had a better argument than simply, I'm not. Oh, wait, I do! I had the stone for a year before my team took it, why didn't I use it to bring Voldemort back then? Why did I have to pretend to be a muggle for ten years? There are holes in your story! Look, I'm so, unbelievably sorry about what I did as a kid, and nothing I do will ever make it right. I don't want to be the hero, just please keep the stone locked away. Then you can do whatever, I don't care."

"If you want to keep the stone safe so much, why don't you put it in Gringott's?" Weasley asked.

"That might actually be the first smart thing I've ever heard you say, Weasley," I admitted. "Will one of you go lock it up? I would offer, but I'm a little tied up at the moment." I wiggled a little to prove my point, automatically regretting it when the ropes got even tighter. Damn these spells I haven't thought about in years.

Potter and Weasley shared a look. "It makes sense to me," Potter said, shrugging. "I'll go to Gringotts, do you want to stay and watch him?"

"I guess, but make it fast. Look who you're leaving me with," Weasley groaned.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Potter promised, then walked out of the cortex to go retrieve the stone.

After about a minute of tense silence, I was over it. "Hey, guys?" I asked the room. "How's Barry doing?"

"Feeling very sore at the moment," Barry replied in a pained voice.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin you're alright! I'm so sorry, I had no idea my father would ever be able to find me, I never would've let you stay if I knew," I apologized, the guilt overwhelming me.

"Julian, I'm fine. I can move again, everything's going to be alright. I'm a superhero that has learned to take a beating, this is nothing," Barry chuckled.

"But this never would've happened if it weren't for me," I argued.

"Julian, I have superhuman healing, it's alright. Consider it punishment for all the hell I put you through at work for the past year, all those Gryffindor moments, I suppose you would call them?" I heard the smile in Barry's voice as he spoke, and I couldn't help but smirk right back.

"If that's the case, then a morning long break hardly seems like the right choice of punishment. Granted, ask Weasley, Gryffindor moments are never punished very harshly. For instance, he only got one night of detention for trying to help their friend hide a dragon at school. I got the same punishment for turning them in!"

"None of us would've been punished if you hadn't been stalking us! What the bloody hell are you doing, telling muggles about Hogwarts?" Weasley accused.

"You had a dragon? That's so cool!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Yeah, if you have a death wish," I scoffed. There was a noise from outside of the cortex and Weasley and I froze, Weasley turning towards the door. "Cisco?" I asked.

"It looks like crazy dad has finally shown up," he replied softly.  


	11. Imperio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the 20th birthday of Harry Potter and I'm only 18, so unless I've been messing around with a time turner, there's no way I am JK Rowling and I don't own Harry Potter. Same goes for the Flash, but that math is even more wrong.

As if that was his cue, my father rounded the corner and started throwing curses at Weasley. Luckily, Weasley was ready and managed to defend himself for a moment, but the duel only lasted maybe a minute before my father over-powered Weasley and the redhead flew backwards into the wall, knocking himself out.

"Hello again, Draco," my father greeted coldly. "So this is how they treat wizards trying to be on the 'good' side? You know that the the world does not work in black and white, or have you forgotten all that I've taught you?"

"No, but killing people simply based on who their parents are seems pretty dark to me," I argued. "The Brahmastra isn't here, we've moved it again, you'll never get it."

"Muggles are worthless, and allowing their children to infiltrate our society will only bring around our own downfall," Father sneered. "I see all the years you spent groveling as a filthy muggle has infected your brain. Draco, as much as it brings me no joy, I'm doing this for your own good. _Crucio!_ "

Pain erupted throughout my entire body and I screamed. When the pain finally subsided, I slumped forward in my chair, Lucius must have gotten rid of the ropes binding me while I was screaming. Unfortunately, before I had a chance to think of what I should do, my father cast another curse.

" _Imperio!_ "

Suddenly, my body wasn't my own anymore. I could still feel the pain from the cruciatus curse, and I could still use all my senses, but my body stood up without any sort of command from myself. I walked across the room to where my wand and phone sat and picked up my wand, no amount of resistance from myself would make my body so much as hesitate.

After a few seconds, Barry flashed inside, huffing. He very obviously was not fully recovered from his paralysis yet. "Julian, are you alright? You were screaming, we didn't know what happened," Barry explained, concerned.

_No, nothing's alright!_ I wanted to warn him. _My father is controlling me, you need to get out of here now!_

Instead, the words were, "Yeah, sorry, my father hit me with the same curse he used on me yesterday. I'll be fine. You shouldn't be running into battle yet."

"I couldn't just let you get tortured without at least trying to help. Speaking of your father, do you know where he went?" Barry asked.

My body looked around. _No but he is in my mind at the moment. I'm dangerous! You need to run!_ I didn't know how long an Imperius curse could last, but I was just hoping that I could outlast it without having to hurt anyone.

"He must be going after the Brahmastra again. He's gambling everything on getting the Brahmastra and getting our family back together. I don't know, maybe he's right, maybe being being in the muggle world has confused my mind. You muggles need all sorts of technology and time just to do things that we can do with the wave of a wand." My hands cradled my wand for a moment, then I grabbed the handle. I felt the spell coming but I couldn't stop it. " _Crucio!_ "

Barry immediately dropped to the floor, writhing in pain and screaming. I wanted nothing more than to throw my wand and run to help him, but I was helpless. I couldn't even scream.

Wally whizzed in, but before he could even take in what was happening, I shouted " _Petrificus Totalus!_ " and he fell to the ground with a thump.

I heard Weasley starting to wake up to Barry's screams, so my body walked over to him next. I picked up his wand. "You know, I always meant this for Potter," my voice said quietly as Barry's screams died down, "but I guess you'll have to do. You are his faithful little sidekick, after all." I threw Weasley's wand off to the side and pointed mine down at him.

I knew what spell I was going to cast, and I couldn't let myself do it. I tried with all of my mind to stop the curse, but all I managed from the effort was getting my hand to shake a little.

Right before the word crossed my lips, I heard a voice. "Julian, you don't have to do this," Barry pleaded in a raspy voice, pushing himself into a sitting position. My heart broke when I saw the hurt look on his face.

Despite my heartbreak, my body simply reached over and repeated " _Crucio!_ " and the room filled with screams again. I couldn't do anything to try to block out the sound or even close my eyes.

Instead, I turned back to Weasley, whose eyes were open this time. "Congratulations, you were correct on your suspicions. Now, as I was trying to say earlier, payback's a bitch. Let Potter know it should have been him receiving this. _Sectumsempra!_ "

I watched as blood spouted from all different points of Weasley's body, unable to do anything but make my hands shake. I still had a few scars from when Potter cursed me back in sixth year.

My body turned back to Barry as his screams died down again. Barry once again started struggling to push himself up.

"Why can't you just stay down like a good, pathetic muggle?" I asked.

"Julian, please, you don't have to be your father. You are your own person, a better person, and you can make your own decisions," Barry pleaded, his hands slipping on the floor as he tried sitting up.

For once I agreed with my voice when it said, "Oh, if only that were true."

However, the satisfaction was short-lived as I realized what I was about to do. My father was going to make me kill Barry Allen to show me just how weak muggles were.

I fought with strength I didn't even know I had. Barry Allen was not going to die tonight, and definitely not by my wand. Now both of my arms were shaking, but that was about it. My wand arm raised.

"I am Draco Malfoy, Malfoy blood runs through my veins. Weak muggles and blood traitors are scum and deserve to be treated as such," my voice announced cooly.

I stared into Barry's broken, desperate face as I remembered the promise I made to myself to not fuck up the first genuine friendship I had. That didn't even last twenty four hours, I mused. How dare my father take the life that I had worked for so long to make? How dare he fuck with the life I made after he ruined the first one.

" _Ava-_ " my voice began, but in a surge of anger and desperation, I managed to choke back my words and spin around. Quickly, feeling the spell trying to take control of me again, I sent a counter-curse to where Weasley was laying in a pool of his own blood and apparated away.  


	12. Apologies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of clever ways to say that none of the characters belong to me, the wizarding characters belong to JK Rowling while the Team Flash members belong to DC. They're just not mine, I promise.

I immediately collapsed as soon as I landed in the precinct lab, shaking uncontrollably. Tears ran down my face and sobs racked through my body. The Imperius curse seemed to have completely let go once I apparated, and all I could think about was the scene I'd just created.

I tortured the one person I could truly call my friend, and I left his adoptive brother petrified on the floor. Even Weasley didn't deserve the Sectumsempra curse, either. After Potter hit me with the curse, I had spent months learning more about it, which is how I found the counter-curse for the spell. That way, if anyone was ever stupid enough to use it, I would be able to help. Of course, now I was the complete imbecile who cast the curse again. I just had to hope that I sent the counter-curse quickly enough, it had looked like Weasley lost a lot of blood.

But most importantly, I couldn't get rid of the image of the face Barry gave me while he pleaded for me to stop. He was in so much pain, pain that I was causing, and yet he didn't try to run, he tried to help me see reason instead. He trusted me, and I just about killed him.

Eventually, I ran out of tears and was left shaking on the floor in shock. I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually I heard the door open. I froze, hoping I was hidden behind my desk enough that whoever it was would assume the lab was empty and leave.

"Malfoy, I know you're here. Tracking spells don't lie," Potter said, shutting the door behind him.

"If you're going to send me to Azkaban, just do it. I'm not in the mood to fight," I replied, my voice shaking.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then in a gentler voice than I'd ever heard him use, Potter said, "you broke the imperius curse."

"The imperius curse is unbreakable. It must've ended," I argued.

"So is the killing curse," replied Potter. Of course he brings up what makes himself so special. "The length of the imperius curse depends on a lot of things, but it never ends in the middle of a spell. Lucius was going to make you kill your muggle, and you broke the curse. You saved your muggles and Ron."

"Don't call him that."

"What?" Potter asked.

"Don't call Barry that. He's not my 'muggle', none of them are my 'muggle'. They're people. Weasley isn't your wizard, is he? They were just my friends, and now that's been fucked up too."

"Don't say that. We can go back and explain what happened. I would've, except as soon as your friends showed me what happened on their camera thing, I came to find you. I, I guess I owe you an apology. You aren't conspiring with your father to revive Voldemort and we should've believed you. Old habits from school clouded our judgement." Potter admitted.

Finally, I decided that continuing to hide behind the desk was ridiculous, so I began to stand and face Potter. As soon as I put weight on my right leg, however, I collapsed.

"Malfoy!" Potter exclaimed, rushing forward. Stunned, I looked down at my leg, where blood was starting to seep through my trousers just below the knee. Once I saw the blood, I started to notice that my leg was in a lot of pain. Potter kneeled down in front of me and pulled my pant leg up. Maybe two inches below my knee, A large cut wrapped all the way around my calf, and blood was not-so-slowly dripping down my leg.

"I splinched myself," I realized, the pain in my leg growing with every second. "I've never done that before."

"Well, I think fighting the imperius curse would make anyone unfocused. You were probably in shock from the curse, that's why you didn't notice it beforehand." Potter commented.

"Really? Thanks for imparting your wisdom on me, Potter. Now fix it," I grunted through the pain.

"Right. Um, Hermione or Ron would be better at this, since they've done it before, but I know I have essence of dittany somewhere," Potter rambled. " _Accio_ Dittany!" A vial of liquid appeared out of one of Potter's pockets.

Potter dripped some of the essence of dittany around my calf, which significantly slowed the bleeding and numbed most of the pain. "Now, you definitely cut deep enough to slice through muscles and other important things, and I'm no healer, so you probably shouldn't put too much weight on your leg for a while," Potter explained. Then he helped me stand up and hobble over to my chair.

"No offense, I definitely appreciated getting an apology from the Boy-Who-Lived, and the help with my leg, but why are you still here? The Brahmastra is locked up, I'm not Voldemort's or even the Malfoy's heir anymore, so why not leave and go find my father?" I asked, sitting back in my chair.

"Because, with the Brahmastra locked away, the only thing that we know Lucius is interested in is you. Plus, Ron is still knocked out from--yeah. You saved him, he'll be fine, but he still lost a lot of blood."

"Stop saying I saved him. I'm the reason all of this happened in the first place!"

"Lucius is the reason, actually. The imperius curse is no joke, Malfoy. It's an unforgivable, after all. You're not responsible for anything that you do while under the curse," Potter reasoned.

"It was still my wand the curses came from, my face that they saw torture them. And even if that was forgivable, if I had just negotiated with my father, I could've saved my team, I could've reasoned with my father, or made time to find another way to get him arrested again. I could've planned ahead, instead of just being angry and arguing with him," I argued.

"C'mon, Malfoy, there's no way you could've known what your father was going to do!" he protested.

"There's no way I could've known my father would want to injure and kill the muggles who, in his eyes, corrupted his son? Especially after he caught Barry sleeping on my couch? I should've known he was planning something like this when he kept Barry alive, I should've known..." I trailed off, thinking of everything I should've done better.

"Don't beat yourself up, Malfoy. You did the right thing in the end, and everyone is safe because you had incredible strength. Give yourself some credit."

"Whatever you say, Chosen One. Anyways, you guys can stay here all you want, I'm going to turn in a resignation letter and then leave. Maybe I head to Star City this time, their police department needs some help," I mused.

"What? You just said all those people back at your guys' secret lair are your friends," Potter questioned.

"Emphasis on 'were'. I tortured them, and I already majorly fucked up right before I joined the team, as well. They've got each other, and they're not going to want me on their team anymore anyways. I've moved around a lot, this will just be another chance to start new," I sighed, knowing that was a lie. I'd never found friends like team flash before, and I definitely wouldn't expect to find them somewhere like Star City, where everyone is so much more cautious and untrusting.

"You should at least explain to them what happened and let them make up their own mind," he protested.

"Or I could save myself the hurt and get a headstart on leaving. Look I''m only going to use muggle transport, no magic, so my father won't know where I am, so you don't need to follow me either. Just let me get a new start, without family drama and magic and all this superhero weirdness."

Potter looked like he wanted to argue some more, but all he said was "Fine, I guess I don't really have much say considering it's your life, but I think you're making a huge mistake." Then, he turned and walked out the door.  


	13. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of clever ways to say that none of the characters belong to me, the wizarding characters belong to JK Rowling while the Team Flash members belong to DC. They're just not mine, I promise.

I sat there for probably ten minutes, trying to write my resignation letter so that it didn't say "my evil wizard father controlled my mind and made me torture Barry so now I can't face him" before the door opened again.

I wasn't sure who it was, but I no it probably wasn't good, so I steeled myself for whatever was about to happen next. However, as soon as I looked up, I still felt like I had been punched in the gut.

Just inside the lab, with his back against the door, Barry stared at me with wary look on his face.

He was finally seeing me as Draco Malfoy instead of Julian Albert, I realized. The look on his face hurt me even more than I imagined it would.

"What are you doing here, Allen? Leave me be, I'm trying to leave," I growled. I wouldn't let him see me broken.

"He didn't arrest you," Barry said, almost accusingly.

"What makes you think he found me?" I asked, pulling all the emotion from my voice. If Barry Allen wanted to see a Malfoy, I was going to act like one.

"Tracking spell. Potter said he needed to find you right after we showed him the tape. We all thought it was to arrest you, but he showed up again ten minutes later without you and wouldn't answer our questions. Why didn't Potter arrest you?" Barry questioned.

"Because maybe the golden muggle of Central City doesn't know everything," I sneered. I stood up, only putting weight my left leg, so that I could keep as dignified of a position I could. "Now, if you're done putting your ignorant nose where it doesn't belong, I have things to do if I'm going to leave Central City tomorrow."

"You're leaving?" Barry asked, and finally he left his feelings show on in face, even if it was just confusion. Barry was always transparent with his feelings, so seeing him so guarded was unnerving.

"Naturally," I replied haughtily, really wishing I could move around without collapsing. "My father is gone, the Brahmastra is safe, why else should I stay? Especially now that Potter and Weasley know where I am. It's time to start over again."

There was a pause, then Barry nodded awkwardly. "Well, I guess I'll leave it to you then..." he said, trailing off. He turned around to walk out the door. I was waiting for him to leave so that I could collapse back into my chair, since my leg had gone back to throbbing and I was beginning to lose my balance.

However, Barry froze with his hand on the door, and then slowly turned back around to face me. "Alright, no, just answer this, please. Why did you tell me everything you said last night and then go and say the opposite today? What was the point of gaining my trust if you were just going to turn on us less than 24 hours later?" he questioned, hurt flooding into his voice.

Involuntarily, I took a step backwards. I gasped in pain as my weight shifted to my hurt leg and started falling backwards. Barry immediately started forwards to help, but I righted myself and threw my hands in front of me. "Get back! Stay away from me!" I yelled.

Immediately, Barry threw his hands in the air and backed up slowly. The wary look returned, as if he was afraid I was going to curse him. Which, to be fair, I had already done twice today. Still, I didn't like that even Barry Allen, metahuman speedster and someone who always sees the best in people, looked so scared of me.

I sunk down into my chair, exhausted. So much had happened in the past two days, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't going to be able to erase it, even if I dropped everything and moved to another city.

After he returned to one step inside the door, Barry decided to speak up again. "What happened to your leg?" he asked, all malice gone from his voice.

"I splinched myself when I Apparated out of STAR Labs. It's something that happens when a wizard is unfocused when they apparate. It can be so extreme that the wizard leaves a limb or two behind, but mine was just a deep cut all the way around my calf. Potter stopped the bleeding, but he said I shouldn't put weight on it for a little while," I explained softly, completely giving up on the Malfoy act.

"You were unfocused?" Barry asked. "I have to say, you looked pretty calm and focused back at the labs."

"That's because those actions weren't mine," I replied, staring down at my desk. "There's a curse, the Imperius Curse, that allows the caster to control the person they cursed. My father cursed me to show me that I was still a Malfoy no matter what I tried to do. He assumed that if I killed you, my muggle friend, that I would give up trying to fight him. I had no control over what I did or said."

"If you killed me? If what you're saying is true, then why am I not dead?" Barry questioned. I wanted to look up to see what he was thinking, but I didn't know what I would do if he didn't believe me, so I kept my eyes firmly on the desk,

"I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm just telling you because you're asking. I'm leaving tomorrow anyways, I couldn't ask to come back to the lab. Anyways, under the Imperius curse, I was totally aware of everything that was happening. I watched myself torture you, and even cast that awful curse on Weasley that I swore would never let anyone cast ever again. And I knew everything that I was going to do before I did it, but no amount of fighting made any difference. The Imperius curse is one of three cures that are called Unforgivables. They are the worst spells a wizard can perform, and there's no counter-curse for them, no way to defend yourself or break them. You've been acquainted with the second one, the cruciatus curse. The third one, well, the third one is known as the killing curse. It's pretty self-explanatory. When you were trying to get me to see reason, I realized that my father wanted me to use the killing curse on you.

"I knew I couldn't kill you, that I had to do something. I don't know how, it should've been impossible, but somehow I broke out of my father's curse. I didn't know how long I could stay free, so I cast the counter-curse on Weasley to hopefully help him live, and then I got away from you as quickly as possible," I explained.

"Potter heard your dad cast the Imperius curse, that's why he didn't arrest you," Barry realized, and finally I dared to look at my soon-to-be-ex partner. He was very obviously thinking a mile a minute, which I couldn't blame him for. But the thing that gave me hope was that while I was talking, Barry had moved closer, taking a few steps away from the safety of the door.

I nodded. "He came to apologize for the accusations he made, actually," I admitted. "That's not something I ever expected to happen."

"So, the man who has hated you for seventeen years forgave you, but you didn't think we would? We're your team, Julian," Barry said, hurt returning to his voice, but the wariness was gone.

"You didn't know about the Imperius curse. You have to admit that my story sounds far-fetched, that I broke an unbreakable curse to save yours and Weasley's lives. Between this and me being Alchemy, I just figured that leaving would be the best solution for everyone."

"Alchemy was not your fault, and neither is this. Actually, it's basically the same thing, you were just conscious and able to beat the spell this time."

"Alright, but still, if I keep getting mind-controlled, wouldn't it be safer for me to just not be around?" I argued.

"If we went by that policy, no one would be on the team. There was the killer frost incident, Cisco opened the Brahmastra Box, the Harrison Wells's never stop lying and screwing us over. Hell, even I was kind of mind controlled by Rainbow Raider. Trust me, we've had our share of bad guys on the team, but I'm pretty confident that you're not one of them."

"And that's why you keep having bad guys on your team," I retorted. "Be cautious! Don't just immediately let someone back on the team after they put everyone in danger!"

"Are you arguing for me to kick you off our team? Because if you want to leave, I'm not going to force you to stay. I'm just saying that you can stay if you want."

"I'm telling you to care about the safety of your team! I've been a danger to the team way more often than I've been a help, and yet you're still trying to welcome me back on the team!"

"That's because you are part of the team! Abandoning you would help us in any way, because we'd lose your help and you'd be on your own again! You've made a new life here, against all odds, and part of that is being part of our team."

"I know that not everyone would feel that way. There has to be someone on the team with some sense of self-preservation."

Suddenly, Barry got a smirk on his face and I got worried. "Yeah, you," he replied, and then I felt a woosh of air and a sense that was only slightly less disorienting as when I first started to Apparate. When the feeling passed, I was sitting on a chair in the middle of the cortex with everyone staring at me.

I realized what Barry was doing and glared at his grinning face as everyone turned and looked at me with varying degrees of surprise and hostility. "Screw you, Allen, screw you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! So, I hate doing this, but this amazing youtube channel called Tin Can Brothers is trying to make a webseries/podcast duo about investigating a quirky town full of werewolves, but they need help getting started. They're incorporating all sorts of people in the cast, including people from the youtube channels Shipwrecked and Starkid, who you may know from the totally awesome A Very Potter Musical! Check out Tin Can Brother's channel, it's full of awesome skits, and their musical, Spies are Forever, is FANTASTIC. 
> 
> But anyways, if you could just check out their kickstarter for Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye, that would be amazing. Even if you can't back it, just try to spread word about it so that more people can find out. Here is the link: http://kck.st/2wffzvd
> 
> Thank you so much!!!


	14. Trail of Star Labs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I had any affiliation with CW's Flash, Julian Albert would absolutely still be in the show. I also don't have any affiliation with Harry Potter, to my dismay.

Cisco sat next to me, in the other chair, his mouth open in shock. Iris, Joe, and HR stood on the opposite side of the desk as me, and they all jumped backwards, HR jumping behind Joe, and Joe even pulling out his gun.

"Stay where you are!" Joe ordered, pointing his gun across the desk at me.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " Harry cast immediately, sending Joe's gun flying out of his hand. "What was that?" Potter asked as we all turned towards him. Potter was standing next to the cot Weasley was laying on, still unconscious. Wally and Caitlin were also in the med bay, presumably Wally had been getting checked out by Caitlin before I showed up.

I shook my head incredulously. "You were raised in a muggle household! Honestly, Potter, shouldn't you at least know what a gun is? From my understanding, they haven't changed too much over the years."

"I was raised by a family who was the opposite extreme of death eaters: anything not overly muggle is evil. That meant I spent most of my time stuck in a cupboard they called my room. I know what a gun is, but it's not like I watched television often enough to get used to seeing ones. Not to mention that was over ten years ago," Potter explained, blushing in embarrassment. "It's not like we need guns."

"Sorry, I must've missed out on being able to read your autobiography when I left to become a muggle." I replied sarcastically. "Anyways, how's Weasley doing?"

"You healed his cuts, like I said, but he lost so much blood. I wish Hermione was here, she'd know what to do. All I can do is wait for him to wake up."

"And we think muggles are useless," I scoffed. "Just call her." I shifted in my seat and pulled out my phone, ignoring the pit in my stomach as I watched my team team flinch, thinking I was going to grab my wand. I dialed Granger's number.

"Julian, I am not going to continue this debate. Harry and Ron are the aurors on this case, I don't care-" Granger lectured as soon as she answered the phone.

"Not the point right now, Granger," I interrupted. "There's been a mishap and Potter still can't figure out how to handle shit without you. Potter, catch!" I called to him, tossing the phone over to him. "I assume you know how to talk on the phone?"

Potter caught caught my phone and gave me a relatively good-natured glare, holding the phone up to his face after checking which end was the speaker. "Hey, 'Mione. No, no, Ron should be fine, he's just still unconscious. He lost a lot of blood, and I can't remember how to replenish."

I rolled my eyes at his helplessness and turned back to my team. Their glares were still there, but there was now an element of confusion behind the glare.

"Honestly, if someone could just give me a pair of crutches, I be out of the lab forever and out of Central City as soon as I can." I told the team, keeping up my confident attitude.

"The Malfoy attitude isn't going to help anything, Albert," Potter called from the med bay.

I was about to shoot back an insult, but I realized that it was the first time Potter called me Albert without it being necessary. "Hey, it wasn't my idea to be here anyways. Allen took advantage of my not being able to walk and trapped me down here," I replied instead.

"Why exactly can't you walk? You were waltzing around here pretty easily earlier," Cisco accused.

"I screwed up my leg when I teleported out of here. Apparently, not killing Barry takes a lot of concentration," I told them matter-of-factly.

Barry rolled his eyes. "Do you have to be so dramatic? Julian's father put a spell on him to make Julian do what he wanted. He was going to make Julian kill me but Julian broke the spell, fixed Weasley, and then teleported away, but he hurt himself because the spell was distracting him as he teleported," Barry explained to the team. "Now he doesn't think we could forgive him for getting mind controlled, so he was going to leave without explaining anything."

I watched as HR's, Iris's, and Cisco's faces all soften. Their faces were all still guarded, but the anger seemed to lessen. "Is it true, Julian?" Iris asked.

I scoffed. "Don't make me out to be some bloody hero. There were a million things I could have done before now that would've saved this debacle from happening. I fucked up, this happened, and so I just barely managed to stop Allen from dying."

"You can't blame yourself for not doing something to stop the event before it happened. I mean, Voldemort wouldn't've come back to life if I hadn't won the Triwizard Tournament, Sirius never would've died if I hadn't gone the the Department of Mysteries, and I could've saved everyone if I had just found the horcruxes earlier. Merlin, everything could've been so different even if I hadn't rejected that stupid handshake from you back on that first day," Potter said, leaning against the doorway of the med bay. He tossed me my phone back. "Hermione gave me a spell to help Ron replace the blood he lost quicker, thanks."

"Fine, even if today I was as fantastic and noble as you all seem so eager to believe, Barry forgot to mention the part of my story where I was a wizard-equivalent of a nazi, the youngest one ever to have the Dark Mark, the tattoo that swears my allegiance to the cause of killing all muggles, non-wizarding people like you. Then, after we lost the war, I sold out my own father to get out of going to prison and then ran away to avoid everyone who hated me in the wizarding world."

"You forgot to mention the part where you saved my life when you lied and said you couldn't tell if it was me at your manor," Potter argued. "Plus, you were a kid! It's not your fault you were raised in that family, growing up and believing that you were better. That's your parents' fault. So you were a prat in school, yeah, but then you grew up and learned, and you realized your mistakes and changed your life around. A bad childhood doesn't make you a bad person forever."

"Yes, please tell them all about my awful childhood, Potter. Mummy and Daddy were evil cartoon villains, too busy hating muggles to ever show me any love. Please," I scoffed, "just because you had a shitty childhood doesn't mean all of us have tragic backstories. My parents loved me, and I was a spoiled kid. And I wasn't stupid either, once I got to Hogwarts I realized that purebloods weren't better than muggleborns. Granger was the best witch in our class, but I still called her slurs, because it gave me power. I'm not some blameless victim you need to save!"

"For Merlin's sake, Mal-Albert-" Potter shot back at me, but he was interrupted.

" _Stupefy!_ " a voice rang out angrily, and I was thrown out of my chair and back against the wall.  


	15. Eventually They're Gonna Stop Debating this Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I owned any part of Harry Potter or the Flash, I would seriously hope that I'd be better at setting and keeping deadlines for stuff, this should have been written a month ago.

"Good morning, Weasley," I wheezed through gritted teeth. "I'm not armed, so curses are hardly necessary, but if we're all sharing our opinions, please tell everyone if they should trust me or not."

"Ha!" Weasley laughed sharply." Like anyone here is ever going to trust you again. You've always been a bloody git, and you couldn't hide behind your innocent muggle act forever, Malfoy. And I heard you cast that Unforgivable on your muggle, you're going to Azkaban, where all of you bloody Death Eaters belong!"

"Ron!" Potter exclaimed, jumping between Weasley and I. "It wasn't his fault! Lucius cast an Imperius curse on him! Julian broke out of the spell and saved your life by casting the countercurse."

"That's his story? And you believe that? Harry, he's toying with you! He's seeing how much he can get away with! The Imperius is an Unforgivable, it's unbreakable, do you really think, out of everyone, this coward would be the one who could break the curse?"

"Weasley, just because you were in Gryffindor doesn't mean that bravery is the only trait that matters to the world," I sighed, sitting up against the wall. "I would never cast that curse on anyone, not even you, if I had any choice in the matter."

"Yeah, right, you slimy little-"

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed. "Listen to me! There's a video of what happened, think of it like a Pensieve, and it shows Lucius casting the Imperius curse on him. I'm not just taking his word for it, it actually happened."

That at least got Weasley to pause, and he finally tore his gaze off me and looked up at Potter. "You really believe this whole muggle act? That he's not still a Death Eater?" he questioned suspiciously.

"I really do. For whatever reason, Malfoy is now living as a muggle, and it's not because of some weird evil plan to kill them all," Potter said.

There was a pause, then Weasley sighed. "Fine. You are the Chosen One and all that crap. If we're not arresting Malfoy anymore, should we head out and try to find Lucius?"

"You should rest for a little while first, you did just almost die," Potter insisted. Then he turned and offered me a hand, which I gratefully took, and he helped me up and back into my chair. "And you should call Hermione, let her know you're alright."

I dialed Granger's number and handed it to Potter, then the two of them walked out of the room. Now I had to finish dealing with the staring muggles.

"Alright," I sighed, "say something."

"You're a... wizard nazi?" Joe questioned.

"Was, and we called ourselves death eaters instead of Nazis, but yeah. We don't have a lot of other prejudices in the wizarding community, like racism and sexism aren't really a thing, and even though homophobia is a thing, isn't very big, but the one big discrimination was blood status, or how much 'pure wizarding' blood you have. I mean, Weasley's wife is a black girl, but the only issue people had with her was that she was from a muggle family, people like you. Well, that and her know-it-all personality. I came from a wizarding family as pure as could be, like, resorting-to-incest-to-keep-the-bloodlines-pure pure. I was sure that that meant I was better than all the others because I was a pureblood, and I kept that attitude all through school, and joined the death eaters by the time I was 16, and even was the reason the death eaters got into school grounds and killed our headmaster, the greatest wizard alive at the time," I explained.

"And now you're here, living as a normal person?" Joe asked hesitantly.

"A muggle, yes," I replied.

"I'm not calling myself that," Joe said.

"Fair enough," I chuckled awkwardly. "After the war, the wizarding community shunned me, so I spent more time in the muggle world, which was awful, because I had no idea how to act, until I went looking for the Brahmastra as a last attempt measure to stop the war from ever happening and so I wouldn't be hated anymore. That went bad, and I just gave up and ditched the wizarding world entirely. At least until Daddy Dearest returned, crazy from ten years of prison time, and our prisons are CRUEL, and wants me back with him." Everyone continued staring at me. "Guys, seriously, just pass me a pair of crutches and I'll get out as soon as Weasley gives me my phone back."

"We're not kicking you out, Julian, you don't have to leave Central City," Barry insisted.

"Alright, none of you have any problems with me staying here, after everything that happened today?" I asked skeptically, hoping someone would speak up against me. It just wasn't safe for me to be around them, and they definitely shouldn't trust me after everything.

However, the room stayed quiet for a minute, no one wanting to be the one to speak up against me.

"Maybe a breather would be best," Joe said finally, and I simultaneously wanted to sigh in relief and felt like someone punched me in the gut. This was what I wanted, but it still hurt to hear my team say that I should move out, hence why I wanted to avoid it all in the first place. "At least until all this stuff with your dad calms down. We don't have any way to defend ourselves against magic, since it's, you know,  _magic_ , and personally, I think I need time to adjust to the wizard nazi thing."

"Of course," I agreed, nodding my head. "I'm glad someone's looking out for the team's safety, Joe."

"Yeah, well, I'm not saying you've gotta stay away forever, just until your wizard life or whatever calms down. It's pretty obvious you grew out of whatever you were when you were a kid, and you're good for the team, just not at the moment," Joe said.

"So instead of getting Captain Singh to transfer me, I'll just get him to loan me out for a little while, deal?" I asked, taking what I could get. And, I couldn't lie to myself, hearing that Joe thought I should come back to the team gave me a little more confidence in who I was as a person.

There was a chorus of agreements, and Caitlin went over to the med bay and pulled out a set of crutches to hand to me. "Just bring them back when you come back, it'll give Barry incentive not to have to use them for anything," she told me.

"Thanks," I replied gratefully, and I use them to finally stand up. Potter and Weasley walked back into the Cortex. "Care to help me Confundus my boss into loaning me out to Star City?" I asked. "I'm not ashamed to admit that I am way out of practice and that mind spells are not something I'm gonna risk."

"So you're still leaving?" Potter asked, seemingly disappointed that I was still ditching town.

"Cool the bleeding heart for a moment, Potter," I said rolling my eyes. "I'm laying low until you actually do your job and catch my father, then they're welcoming me back with open, naive arms."

"Whatever, if it means you're out of town and we don't have to deal with you, I'm in," Weasley agreed.

"Great, then let's go, so then you guys can actually get back to what the Ministry pays you for."

Potter scoffed but grabbed my arm and we apparated out of the Cortex.

 


	16. Character Growth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely don't own any part of the Flash or Harry Potter, otherwise, I wouldn't be taking killer science courses this semester of college.

 

Hermione collapsed into bed with a groan. It had taken her almost an hour to get Hugo to wind down for bed. She was just lucky Rose was away at Hogwarts, otherwise they would all still be up. Ron was always so much better at this than she was, if he was home then Hugo would've been in bed half an hour ago and fast asleep by now. Ron knew all the tricks of how to get the ten-year-old moving, having witnessed Molly get his brothers and Ginny in bed or having the tricks being used on Ron himself.

Hermione just didn't have that experience, being an only child and usually more than happy to get ready for bed so that she could sneak a flashlight into bed and continue reading, or the patience to learn the tricks without getting frustrated. Domestic motherhood was not her strong suit at all.

And that was why she had a job as Minister of Magic, something she was actually good at, and the reason why she wanted to get a good night's sleep before the long day of meetings she had scheduled for the next day. However, Hermione's conversation with her husband earlier kept replaying over and over in her head.

Before today, Hermione had known that Julian was living as a muggle, but she hadn't known just how much he'd changed. She'd assumed that his assimilation into the muggle world was just an acceptance of defeat and that he didn't care for muggles, it was just the only place he could find where he wasn't openly hated. She had been so ready to accept that he acted against muggles once Harry and Ron gave her the smallest opportunity.

But today just proved that Julian truly changed. Not only did he manage to pass as a muggle for years, but he had also grown to care for them, enough so that he was able to break the Imperius curse to avoid killing a muggle friend.

The biggest question keeping Hermione awake at the moment was that, if Julian changed this much, what about the other Slytherins from her time at Hogwarts, the ones that society just passed off as inevitably Death Eaters forever, despite the movement to disband the Slytherin stereotype for future generations of Hogwarts students.

After a long night of little sleep, Hermione walked into the office determined. She sat through her morning meetings, and while she tried to stay focus on what they were discussing, she kept getting distracted by the clock. Finally, it was lunch time, and instead of eating her usual packed lunch Hermione hurried out the door and into the street.

Just two blocks down the road from the ministry, there was a small bakery that was connected to a cosmetics shop. The bakery was fairly full, so Hermione chose to enter the cosmetics shop first.

"Well, I didn't know we were getting royalty in today," a voice remarked coolly. "I never thought I'd see the day Hermione Granger entered a makeup store, I'm just honored it could be mine."

Hermione looked over to the desk, where the shop owner sat leisurely in her chair, looking every centimeter the femme fatale she had always been. "Hello, Ms. Parkinson, or I suppose it is Ms. Goyle now," Hermione greeted.

"I know you have absolutely no use for aesthetic and all of this, but please tell me that even you can recognize that Pansy Goyle is a dreadful name,  _Ms. Granger-Weasley_ ," Pansy said, rolling her eyes. "I was not about to ruin a perfectly good name for something as silly as marriage. I'm still Pansy Parkinson and Greg is still a Goyle, we appreciate our alliterations in this family. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of a Ministry visit, Madam Minister?"

"Oh, um, I'm not here on Ministry business," Hermione replied hurriedly. Now that she was here, she wasn't sure how to broach the subject.

"If you were that eager to poke around our businesses, Minister, I would suggest trying next door, it's a lot more believable that you would be wanting to buy Greg's food than my makeup line. If you're not here to buy anything, and you're not here for Ministry business, you're encouraged to take your leave. I've paid my price for my choices in the war, I'm not about to be made to feel guilty again in my own store," Pansy explained coldly, and Hermione had half a mind to follow Pansy's instructions and just leave. It was silly coming here anyways.

 

Just before she turned around to exit the store, Hermione forced herself to stop. "No, I'm, I'm not here to guilt trip you or anything like that. Kind of the opposite, really. There's a case, that Ron and Harry are working on right now, and it's making me realize that we wrote a lot of people off after the war as just being death eaters, and we never gave them a chance to change," Hermione admitted, her hands clenched at her sides. She hated admitting mistakes, she always felt like she should just hide her mistakes away and hope no one would ever notice them.

"That sounded dangerously close to an apology, Granger, this case must've really shaken you," Pansy smirked, but her tone was almost teasing.

"Trust me, if you knew any of the details, even just who it was, you would be too," Hermione promised. "Anyways, I came here because, well, I was wondering if you or Goyle would be willing to talk to me about what you guys did after the War."

"Look, Granger, I'm glad something made you realize that we've grown up since the War," Pansy told her, finally sitting up and leaning forward, onto her desk, "and I truly am really sorry about everything I did to you back at school, especially in regards to your blood status, but I'm not some tool you can use to relieve your guilt. I have a business to run, I don't need to go back and relive the not-so-good old days."

Hermione knew she had leverage here, with her information on Draco. She didn't want to break her promise to him, but Hermione felt like she needed to talk to Pansy and Greg.

Luckily she was saved from deciding just yet as the door that connected Pansy's store to the bakery swung open.

"Hey, hon," Greg Goyle greeted absent-mindedly, carrying a plate. "You didn't come in for lunch, so I figured you were busy with a customer so I brought it here for..." he trailed off as he finally took a look at who his wife was talking to. "Minister Granger, I didn't realize we were expecting a ministry visit."

"We weren't. Granger here has had an epiphany and realized that us Slytherins may have grown into halfway decent people, and wants us to spill our sob stories from after the War to her so she can feel less guilty and know she isn't just dismissing us anymore," Pansy explained.

"Listen, Granger, it's not that we ignore that the War happened, we see the effects of it everywhere, but we don't really dwell on it very much;" Goyle said apologetically. "Even though we can't help you, could I get you anything to eat? It's probably your lunch break, after all."

"No, but thanks for the offer. I'm not here because I feel guilty," Hermione lied. "I'm here because I want to hear all the sides, to get objective facts about what happened, and I realized that I can't do that without talking to people on the other side of the War. I understand how hard the period after the War, we all lost people."

Pansy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, Granger, you don't understand," she growled. "You guys lost people, we lost everyone. Sure, both sides lost people in the battle, but afterward, we lost everyone who survived, too. Almost everyone we associated with who was older than us was sent to Azkaban. Both mine and Greg's parents are gone, the only parents from our friend group left were Draco's mother, because Potter testified for her, and Blaise's mother, who stayed out of the way of the War while her eighth husband fought, then committed 'suicide' after the battle to avoid facing trial. Now that is a woman I can admire." Pansy sat back in her chair, the thought of Ms. Zabini and her many husbands seeming to soothe her anger briefly.

"Should I be concerned?" Greg asked, suppressing a smile.

"Don't be stupid, you haven't even written your will yet," Pansy dismissed. "Actually, hold on a second, that might actually mean that everything would go to me. Nevermind, I need to think about it."

"Good to know, I guess I'll just have to Chrissy Teigen it and keep a note in my pocket that says 'Pansy did it,'" Greg replied without missing a beat.

"C'mon, that's not fair, you can't use Chrissy Teigen against me, you know how much I love her," Pansy complained. "Plus, you know that If John ever did anything to Chrissy, I would kill him and there is nothing the muggle cops could do about it."

"Um, sorry, but I think I'm missing something here?" Hermione interrupted, unable to follow the couple's conversation.

"Chrissy Teigen, the muggle American celebrity?" Pansy prompted, but Hermione just shook her head, she had no idea who Pansy was talking about. "Alright, can we just take a second to recognize that you're the muggleborn here?"

"Sure, but it's not like I spend much time in the muggle world, besides quick trips to visit my parents," Hermione argued. "How do you know about an American muggle?"

"Like Post-War wizarding society gave us any other option," Pansy scoffed.

"C'mon, Pans, she doesn't understand everything that happened," Greg said, rolling his eyes. "After the War, you guys kinda shunned us. Anytime we went out there were stares and insults, and quite a few places refused to even serve us. We basically weren't allowed to be in public. I think people just assumed that that meant we hid in our manors, but the manors just held too many memories of everyone who wasn't around anymore. The only place we had was the muggle world. It started out really slow, but together we pieced together how to survive in the muggle world. The two of us, Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, and Tracey Davis all even got a huge flat to live in Muggle London for a while. Draco was going to join us, but then he decided to travel for a few years, before he, you know, disappeared. But anyways, it's led us purebloods to be some of most muggle-savvy witches and wizards there are, even after the wizarding world started allowing us back in public."

"I never thought about what happened to you guys during that time," Hermione admitted, stunned. "I'm sorry, you guys shouldn't have been excluded from your entire world." Apit of guilt settled in Hermione's stomach. Not only did all of this happen and she didn't even realize it, but she also had information about Draco's disappearance.

"Don't get me wrong, you should be sorry and it was really rough for awhile, but it was probably for the best," Pansy said, brushing off Hermione's apology. "The exile was probably important for all the character growth or whatnot that made us all into halfway decent people."

"Well, I took up too much of your time, I should head back to the office," Hermione decided, anxious to get out before she spilled Julian's secret. "Thank you for talking to me about this, it really helped a lot."

Hermione turned to exit the store, but Pansy's voice stopped her. "Granger, wait," she said and pulled out a bottle of off-white nail polish. "It's my brand of nail polish. It goes on smooth, doesn't chip, and keeps your nails from breaking, and it's a totally professional color. Our minister could do with a little bit of femininity." Pansy tossed the bottle to Hermione, who thankfully caught it.

"Thanks," Hermione smiled, then turned around and actually left the store, walking slowly back to the Ministry, turning the nail polish in her hands.

That night, Hermione went out to Muggle London and bought a laptop, and her first google search was "who is Chrissy Teigen?"


	17. Dinner Party

Hermione sat at her desk, turning her quill over in her hands as she stared at Harry and Ron’s last update. A week and a half had gone by since the whole deal with the Imperius curse, and they’d gotten nowhere with locating Lucius. They believed that Lucius was still nearby since Julian was the only thing Lucius wanted now that the Brahmastra was safely locked away. 

The problem was, Harry and Ron couldn’t figure out where to look. There were wanted posters everywhere in the wizarding world, so Lucius couldn’t hide there, but Lucius also would never be willing to blend in with muggles. They couldn’t figure out where the grey area was between the two worlds. 

Sighing, Hermione leaned back in her chair. They had to figure something out before Lucius tried anything else. But that would have to wait, she’d be late for a meeting if she didn’t leave now. 

Hermione opened the desk drawer to put her quill away, but her eyes stopped on a different object. A bottle of nail polish. Hurrying, Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment and scrawled out a message. She then sent the message to the owlry and ran off to her meeting, too distracted by her plan to even care that she was late.

Luckily, there was a response waiting for her in her office by the time she made it out of the meeting.

_ Minister Granger-Weasley, _

_ Thank you for your invitation. Pansy and I would be happy to join you for dinner tomorrow night, and Grace will be so excited to meet your son, she doesn’t get to spend nearly enough time with kids her own age. We’’ see you then! _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Greg _

 

Dinner that with the Goyles went surprisingly well, despite Hermione’s leg nervously bouncing underneath the table for the entire time. Grace and Hugo became fast friends, and Pansy and Greg were obviously trained to excel in awkward dinners like this. Finally, dinner came to a close, and it was the moment Hermione had been waiting for all day.

“Hugo, why don’t you go show Grace your playroom,”  Hermione prompted. The two children ran off excitedly. As they got further away from the dining room, there was a brief silence between the adults.

“So,” Hermione began, “I have to admit, I didn’t invite you two over tonight just for the company.”

“Really?” Pansy asked, her sarcasm apparent. “Hermione Granger-Weasley doesn’t just invite acquaintances over for dinner all the time? Shocking.”

“What Pansy means to say,” Greg chuckled, “is that we guessed as much. What can we do for you?”

“This is going to sound very judgemental of me, but I promise that’s not my intentions,” Hermione warned. “When you first began going out into the muggle world, was there a time when you still looked down on them and not willing to learn from them on how to blend in?”

“I mean, yeah, there was no way we were going to get rid of all of our prejudices in a day,” Greg admitted.

“Then how did you stay out of sight? No one from the wizarding world noticed you, and you must not have been too conspicuous with muggles,” Hermione continued.

“There are always places to hide, in between the two worlds, if you know where to look. Places with just enough magic to ward off muggles, but not enough to attract wizards,” Pansy explained, playing with her nails. “Why are you asking?”

“It’s this case that Ron and Harry are working on. The wizard they’re looking for isn’t in the wizarding world, but he wouldn’t be caught dead pretending to be a muggle, that much we’ve proved.”

Pansy’s eyes widened in excitement. “You’re talking about finding Lucius Malfoy, aren’t you?” she asked, suddenly much more invested in the conversation.

Hermione felt her cheeks heat up. “I shouldn’t be discussing the case, but yeah,” she admitted. “We’re fairly confident that we know the area he’s hiding in, Ron and Harry just can’t find him yet. Normally I would just let Ron and Harry take their time and trust they will work everything out, but there’s been a surprise extra factor to this case that makes me want to wrap up quickly.”

“An extra factor,” Pansy repeated, fully interested now. Do tell, Minister.”

“Trust me when I say I would tell you if I could. It’s not my secret to reveal,” Hermione explained, worried that Pansy would lose interest now that Hermione was holding back details. “But if you knew, I’m sure you would also want Lucius caught sooner rather than later. Apparently, he is deadset on finding a way to bring back Voldemort and win the war. Can you help us?”

Pansy and Greg shared a look. “Could you give us a moment?” Greg asked politely.

“Of course!” Hermione replied, standing up from the table quickly. “I’ll just wait in the kitchen. You can call me in whenever you’re ready.” She hurried out of the room and anxiously paced for a few minutes while the couple discussed. Hermione regretted not bringing in the dirty dishes, wishing she had some sort of task she could calm her anxious mind with.

Finally, Hermione heard Greg call her name and she had to force herself not to run back to the dining room.

“Listen, being back to being powerful purebloods sounds great and all, but there’s no way I’m giving up my favorite muggle coffee shop for it,” Pansy declared. “We’d be happy to help catch Lucius.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “There’s also the fact that Blaise and Millicent married muggles and would be considered blood traitors,” he chuckled, “but Dream Bean Coffee is important too.”

“Thank you so much!” Hermione exclaimed. She was impressed with how easily they agreed. She really had to stop underestimating her old Slytherin classmates. 

“We were thinking,” Pansy suggested, “finding these spaces that Lucius is probably hiding is more of a learned skill, something you figure out by necessity. Maybe we could visit the area and check it out for you?”

This made Hermione pause. “I’m not sure,” she replied hesitantly. “This is already pushing boundaries, just asking for your advice, you directly helping with the case would be very unorthodox, especially on your own. Not to mention that we’re talking about a city in America, it’s not just somewhere that’s easy to pop over to for a few hours.”

“Well you would be more than welcome to join us, Ron and Harry too, as long as they were as open-minded about us as you’ve been,” Greg appeased. “We’d just be like the experts you consult if you need extra information on a certain subject.”

“That is, unless you’re afraid to have to people who fought on the wrong side of the War as contributors on the case,” Pansy suggested cooly, and Hermione groaned internally. Hermione could hear in Pansy’s voice that she didn’t believe Hermione was cautious because they were ex-death eaters, but she was using the possibility to tie Hermione’s hands.

“Fine,” Hermione relented. “It’ll have to be next week, but I can arrange it so I can be out of the office for two days. Hugo can stay at Percy’s with his cousin Lucy, apparently she’s been dying of boredom without her sister anyways. Does that work for you?”

“Our shops can handle themselves for a few days, and Narcissa been practically begging to spend more time with Grace before she goes off to Hogwarts next year,” Greg replied with a smile. Pansy sat back in her chair smugly.

“Well then, it’s settled. I’ll owl you both tomorrow with more details,” Hermione decided, feeling as if she lost control of the situation, despite this being a better outcome than she had hoped for. “Now, we should probably go check on our kids, they’ve been suspiciously quiet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm sorry about how long it's been since my last update, but I already began my next chapter, so it hopefully won't be nearly as long until my next update!
> 
> Please leave kudos and comment, it really encourages me to keep writing! And thank you so much for reading!!


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